How to Write a DND Heist One ShotWelcome back to How to Be a Better DM, I’m your mastermind for today, Justin Lewis, and you’re here with me to learn how to tell better stories for yourself and your friends as you DM sessions of Dungeons and Dragons 5e. aHow to Be a Better DM is presented to you by Session 0 Studios, D&D podcasts and shows to sate your ever deepening hunger.I’m excited for today’s show because it’s actually something that I’ve been working to improve personally. I’ll explain a little later in today’s show, but I’m really excited to get into today’s show. Before we do, I don’t know who needs to hear this, it’s probably you, the DM listener that I’m currently pointing at, but you need to hear this.You’re doing wonderfully. You may think you aren’t a great DM or you may have had a session recently that was less than encouraging, but know that you are doing well. First of all, most players could never do as well as you are as a DM. Second, being a DM is hard and it is a skill that requires practice. You’re doing splendidly so don’t give up.Now, I hope that wasn’t too sappy for you because today we are going to talk about doing a DND Heist One Shot!Why Do One Shots at AllBefore we talk about heists, I want to take a moment and talk about why you would even consider doing a one shot. Back on episode 82, https://session0studios/captivate-podcast/reserve-1/, we talked about 10 reasons why you should one shots. Let me just summarize one of the points and also explain why this particular topic appeals to me. You see, with one shots you can try new mechanics, and new scenarios that might be intimidating to pull off in your actual campaign. Doing one shots challenges you.Why Do a Heist One ShotNow the next question is why you should do a heist one shot?Well the first answer is that, it’s fun. Think about all of the heist movies you’ve seen. There’s the Italian Job. Oceans 11, 12, 13 and so on, Army of Theives (which if you’ve seen, then in our upcoming live play Show, Calignos, the character played by Tanner Weyland, my cohost on this podcast, resembles the main character of Army of Thieves so much it’s delightful).The list of fun movies is endless.The second reason is that I think a heist, more than other types of one shots, is somewhat more technically challenging. Let me explain. In order to make any particular one shot as good as it can be, there requires a certain level of believability. You must also strike a balance of difficulty. If the crown jewel of Tethrezrembot is only moderately difficult to steal, then your party will likely think the one shot was more a joke than an actual challenge.To that end, the thing that the party is trying to heist has a perceived value proportional to the difficulty of stealing that object. That means if the party is to believe the value of the target, then the defenses need to be difficult and believable. Also the party will want a sense of accomplishment.Original Characters or New Characters?So the first question you need to ask when doing any one shot is whether or not it will be canon in your campaign or not, and whether or not your players will create new characters. These are generally two separate questions.For example, in my current campaign, I am planning an extra special one shot for my players. This is a spoiler so if any of my players are listening please stop listening. In my campaign the BBEG is named Dreamtaker, and he was a very powerful Fey Creature who was split into pieces in order to be stopped previously. The pieces of Dreamtaker are all items. In my current campaign the party has fought against Dreamtaker a little here and there, and one of the characters has actually been possessed by Dreamtaker essentially and works for him.I am planning a heist one-shot, where, somewhere else in the universe, another group of mercenaries has been hired to steal an artifact. Unbeknownst to those new characters, that artifact is a piece of Dreamtaker. This one-shot will still be cannon, but it will take place far away from the main plot line and with totally different characters. I’m going to use this one-shot to explain why Dreamtaker has assembled another piece of himself without simply saying so to my players.When you do your heist one-shots, or your one-shots in general, ask yourself whether it will just be a non-canon, fun experience, or if it will be salient to the main plot. The advantage of making it non-canon is that anything that happens doesn’t have to really make sense in the grand scheme of things. You can be more loose and have fun with how you do certain things. On the flip side, one of the advantages of making your one-shots canon is that your players will take things a little more seriously.Once you’ve made your choice you can move onto the next consideration, whether or not to make your one-shot an Ensemble one-shot.EnsembleAn Ensemble is, simply put, a group where everyone has a unique and specific role. This plays very well with the heist because generally, in a heist you want as few people as possible, but you still want every job taken care of, and you often need the best at doing any particular job. Think about all your favorite Heist type movies or shows. One of the best examples that I can think of is called Leverage. It’s a show about a group of people who used to be thieves who decided to use their talents to help people in need. It’s a fun show and it shows off the Idea of the ensemble beautifully. There are 5 characters in the group and each character has a specific job. There is the mastermind, the grifter, the acrobat, the techie and the muscle. So why do I bring this up?In your Heist, you’ll need to consider how the ensemble will be created. Even if you don’t help create it actively, it will be created. For example, let’s say you decide to have your party keep their same characters. Each member of the party will find a part to play. Most often this will mean that the party will sort of split up responsibilities during the planning phase of the heist. This is a good thing because it should actually help you in your planning phase. What I mean by that is that you’ll likely match the challenges of the heist to your party. You’ll create opportunities for each member to feel like they are the only person that can handle that particular obstacle. Conversely, you’ll likely put in some roadblocks that seem party specific that they’ll have to think their way out of.If you decide to have your party make new characters, it might be fun in the outset to have them pick roles within the ensemble that you want them to fulfill. That way they would make their character specific to the role.Some examples of role that could be fulfilled are:MastermindGrifterCon-manTechieThe MuscleThe ImpersonatorThe Getaway Driver (Depending on your world)The AcrobatThe SneakThe SafecrackerThe Demolitions ExpertThe DistractionThe ForgerThe Artificer (For building things like replicas or special contraptions)The FaceAnd those are just to name a few. If you want more ideas, just watch any good ensemble show and you’ll get a good idea.The TargetNow that we’ve talked about the party and the roles they’ll be playing in our one-shot, we need to talk about the prize, the target, the booty. As any good thief knows, it doesn’t matter what you get, only what you keep. Similarly, why would you want to keep something that doesn’t have much value?In order for any heist to make any sense, the target must be valuable. Since you are devoting a one-shot to the heist, I would say that the target has to be pretty valuable. If you want to turn the one-shot into like a mini-campaign, the target would be even more valuable.Often, you’ll likely make your own target but you can also choose artifacts from any of the sourcebooks that have already been published.As a general rule of thumb, it’s generally best not to make the object of the heist a world-ending relic, unless that happens to be part of your overall plot if the one-shot is going to be campaign cannon. I say when in doubt, just make it a priceless object of monetary value, that way the only motivations are greed rather than world domination.When making the target, you also want to make it have a nice backstory itself. In a way, the object of the heist is also a character and it needs fleshing out. Think about the Pink Panther movies (more so old ones) where the Pink Panther diamond almost seemed to have its own mind and will. The Pink Panther itself was a character in that series. That’s why the opening credits always started with some smooth jazz and cartoons depicting the Pink Panther evading and generally getting the better of Jaque Clouseau.So maybe in your one-shot you want to make your target have a life of its own. You could even go so far as to even make the target sentient, whether it’s an object or a person. Adding this sort of complication adds another layer into the story and can make for a more dynamic experience for your players.The Owner of the TargetNow, the next big consideration is the person who owns or is in charge of the object of the heist. If the target is a person, (a kidnapping) then the owner of the target would be someone in charge of their safety or someone really close to them.Thinking about the owner of the target is important because all of the planning that happens hereafter will take into account who the Owner is and what resources they have at their disposal. It also incorporates the willingness of the Owner to kill to protect whatever the target is. Really flesh out the owner because when you come to the planning phase, and really everything after this phase, you’ll be in a much better situation.So let’s go through a quick example so far. If you are in my current D&D campaign and you are listening, stop listening for a second because I’m going to reveal some spoilers.Great.So, I am currently planning a heist one-shot. As I’ve mentioned, my players will be creating new characters, but the one-shot will actually be canon within the universe of my campaign.First, some things you need to know about my setting. I’ve sort of stolen some ideas from Aerois, the High Rollers’ 2nd campaign. Specifically, instead of the Astral Sea being a sea, for my campaign it is all of space, and other planets are considered planes. Some planes do also exist as well though. So because of this there are magical Astral Space ships and such. So theirs sort of an element of higher technology within the universe. That’s important.The party will be creating characters who are essentially a group of thieves for hire. They will be hired to acquire an object that, unbeknownst to them is actually a piece of the BBEG. That part will be a small reveal to my players at the end. The person who possesses the target is actually a Celestial named Hezriel. I’ve yet to determine exactly what Hezriel is, but he has been keeping vigilant against the BBEG to prevent the BBEG from rising to power again. Hezriel will reside on a planet that is maybe a little more advanced that we are in our reality. The heist will take place in Hezriel’s skyscraper.So with that example, already, we have a lot to go off of. Because Hezriel is a celestial, and he has some fortune and power, we can plan some things in the next phase that will make a lot of sense. We also know the motivations that Hezriel has for keeping the Target Object and the motivations that the party will have to acquire it.This is the importance of fleshing out the Target and the Owner of the Target.The Adversarial ForcesSomewhat tangential to the Owner of the Target, you’ll want to flesh out both the forces that the Owner has at their disposal, and also any other rival groups who might be competing to acquire the Target Object. In every Indiana Jones movie, there are the rival groups, and while it isn’t a heist in the traditional sense, Indie is always on the hunt for knowledge. National Treasure is another great example of a heist with a rival group.Especially in a one-shot, adding in another rival group can keep the plot and the action going. People act differently when they realize that everything they are doing is technically a race with another group or another person.That said, adding in another group does add another layer that you must create and if this is one of your first one-shots, you can easily choose to forgo the competitor group and that’s ok.Going back to my previous example with my weekly campaign, I don’t plan on having an adversarial group compete with my party to steal the Target object. I feel like that would detract from them being able to fully enjoy the experience of new characters and a new situation.Now that we’ve down all the ground work, let’s hop into the actual planning phase of the one-shot!Your Planning PhaseFor many people, planning something like this can be quite daunting. In fact, for me, planning something like this is daunting, because compared to other one-shots, this requires technical DM skills. But guess what, you’re listening to How to Be a Better DM, where you are going to learn how to do all of the technical stuff. So thank you. Thanks for putting your trust in us and letting us have the chance to make or break it. We never forget you, whether you’re at the gym right now, washing dishes, driving to work or out walking your dogs. We appreciate you and wish we could sit in on all of the games you DM.Location Location LocationIn the meantime, let’s dig into planning the actual nuts and bolts of the one-shot. The first thing you need to figure out is the Location of the target object. This means where in the Universe, in the realms or on the world is your target object located. This is very important because stealing the ancient artifact of a hidden Gumuchi Tribe is very different from stealing a Piece of Dreamtaker from Hezriel Tower within the technologically advanced Pomalen City. So think about where your object would be. Extrapolate, logically from who owns it, what it is and why people would want it, to figure out the best location for your one-shot.From there you can hone in to specifically the building the object is in. For heists, the building always matters. In heists, you need to sneak in and sneak out or getaway fast. That means that you need to know where all the exits are and where everything important is relative to everything else.I would say, in order of operations do this:Pick the objectPick the ownerPick the location of the building the object is stored inCreate a layout of that buildingOnce you have a map, it will be much easier to let your players plan through the heist. With the map, there are somethings you might want to consider noting on a personal copy of the map. For example, in a large skyscraper like I am working on, I’m going to want to note air ducts and how they connect, but also secret passages that wouldn’t necessarily be on public government records. I can choose if and how the party could uncover those depending on how they plan and the actions they take. You can obviously forgo this step if you feel that the building the target object would be in wouldn’t have anything like that.Technology LevelObviously, you’ll need to plan the level of technology that your party will be dealing with. You’ve probably already made this decision when you chose the location of the target object, but let’s talk about a couple of considerations.Low Tech:If the party is doing a heist in a low-tech area, they will likely have access to magic, this is D&D afterall. You need to decide if the owner of the target object also has access to magic. It would be pretty strange if your party could use spells like invisibility but the person protecting a very important object didn’t have access to spells like See Invisibility. I would at the least make both of them to be on the same footing, though it makes more sense for the Owner of the Target Object to have more resources available.High Tech:If the party is facing off against a high-tech opponent, then you as the DM will need to worry about things like alarm systems, CCTV security cameras, elevators and stuff like that. You’ll also need to make it so simple things like disguise self or minor illusion can’t just easily disrupt the whole system. If magic is a thing then the high-tech needs to be able to see through it.I personally think it would be very interesting to have a high-tech party go up against a low-tech Target Object owner and discover that it’s very difficult somehow. Having chosen a tech level, it should be pretty easy now to start to visualize some of the traps and things that you would naturally use.The VaultThe next thing you need to decide on is the vault. Since before this step, you’ve already made the layout of the building that the heist will take place in, knowing what the vault looks like will be easy.Also, for context, when I say vault, I actually just mean the final spot that the party must pass through in order to get the object. The Vault could just be a room, it could even be a person if the target is constantly on someone’s person.The idea here is that this is theoretically the final stage before Target Acquisition and Escape. We are gonna work backwards a little and think about the things starting from the end.So, combine what you know about the layout of the building with what you know about the resources of the Owner of the Target. That combination of knowledge should help you be able to think about things like “what sort of protections could this owner afford?”Going back to my example, let’s flesh out the Vault. So we know that the building and the world that the heist is going to take place on is somewhat high-level tech. I’ve decided that the vault will be 3 or 4 levels underground in this massive skyscraper. Now, as far as the owner of the object is concerned, Hezriel, the celestial, is quite powerful and has quite a few resources at his disposal. He could theoretically have any sort of protection device that I could think of. This means that I don’t need to limit what I can think of in terms of laser alarms, security cameras, and things like that.Hezriel is lawful good though, so really anything he employed would be forthright and not sneaky. He wouldn’t have a legion of invisible imps hanging around for example. Instead he would just have strong technology and then a legion of guards on call that could be called upon at a moment’s notice.So with all of those considerations, I’ve decided to make the vault a suspended room on underground level 3 or 4. The basic idea is that if something trips a major alarm, then the suspended vault is released and falls along rails to underground level 10 where more guards are waiting.Inside the vault is just a very large room with shelves and stands for different artifacts. None of the other artifacts matter that much. In this case, I don’t mind if the party steals a little something extra because it’s not going to affect the rest of my campaign.GuardsNow might be...

Are you tired of making throwaway NPCs that your players forget the next day? Then this podcast discussion with Tanner, Justin, and Cayden is for you! We discuss when to utilize realistic NPCs and ways to improve the realism of your NPCs, as well. Let's roll initiative!Mentioned in this episode:Brought to you by Session 0 StudiosVisit session0studios.com for more information.Give Us a Rating and ReviewYou obviously have really good taste, you’re listening to How to Be a Better DM after all. We thank you for your support. If you’ve ever gotten anything useful from our show, take a minute to give us a rating and a review. It goes a very long way to making it so How to Be a Better DM can help many more dungeon masters just like you. If you love our content, help others become better dungeon masters too.Listen to Our New PodcastAs a listener of this show, you obviously love story. Now that you’ve learned how to craft your own story on this show, wouldn’t it be nice to have some inspiration? Or maybe just a moment of immersion and escape? Then come join us in our new Actual Play D&D 5e show, Pact and Boon. Enter the World of Calignos where our characters, Jolly, Wolfgang and Alon will meet each other in Hell. Enjoy our troublemaking and near-death experiences wherever great podcasts are heard. Just go to session0studios.com/pactnboon and start listening today. Start Leveling Up As a DMWouldn’t it be nice to gamify your dungeon master abilities? In D&D, characters can reach level 20, so why can’t dungeon masters? We’re happy to tell you that now, you can. We created the Dungeon Master Level-Up Guide. It’s a simple tool to gamify your progression to higher and higher levels of dungeon mastering. It includes Dungeon Master Levels 1 to 20 with associated XP requirements as well as a long list of Dungeon Master activities that will give you XP. Each activity has a Challenge Rating and an XP amount. In order to level up, all you need to do is find out how much XP you have, find out how much you need and pick activities to try. You can get the Dungeon Master Level-Up guide for free by going to session0studios.com/newsletter/, sign up for our newsletter and we’ll email you the Level-Up Guide. Finally, leveling up as a DM can be as fun as leveling up a character. Level Up Guide

On today's episode, Cayden talks about his experience in creating home-brew worlds and mechanics without knowing much about DND in the first place. For those of you who want to play but may not have a great basis in the game, this episode is for you! But Seasoned players, don't turn away just yet. You may learn a thing or two about getting creative and improvisation. Mentioned in this episode:Brought to you by Session 0 StudiosVisit session0studios.com for more information.Start Leveling Up As a DMWouldn’t it be nice to gamify your dungeon master abilities? In D&D, characters can reach level 20, so why can’t dungeon masters? We’re happy to tell you that now, you can. We created the Dungeon Master Level-Up Guide. It’s a simple tool to gamify your progression to higher and higher levels of dungeon mastering. It includes Dungeon Master Levels 1 to 20 with associated XP requirements as well as a long list of Dungeon Master activities that will give you XP. Each activity has a Challenge Rating and an XP amount. In order to level up, all you need to do is find out how much XP you have, find out how much you need and pick activities to try. You can get the Dungeon Master Level-Up guide for free by going to session0studios.com/newsletter/, sign up for our newsletter and we’ll email you the Level-Up Guide. Finally, leveling up as a DM can be as fun as leveling up a character. Level Up GuideGive Us a Rating and ReviewYou obviously have really good taste, you’re listening to How to Be a Better DM after all. We thank you for your support. If you’ve ever gotten anything useful from our show, take a minute to give us a rating and a review. It goes a very long way to making it so How to Be a Better DM can help many more dungeon masters just like you. If you love our content, help others become better dungeon masters too.Always Have Your Sessions Prepared!You work 8 hours a day. You spend time with your family when you come home. You do work around the house and it seems you never have as much time as you would like to prepare your D&D sessions. Does this sound like you? Wouldn’t it be amazing to have endless material prepared for your D&D sessions anyways? That’s where Roll and Play Press comes in. Roll and Play Press provides D&D 5e Compatible materials for any type of session. Running a one-shot? Check out their One Shot Wonders book with over 100 one-shot ideas. Getting started with your new sci-fi campaign? Get their Game Master’s Sci-Fi Toolkit to have your games much more prepared. Why reinvent the wheel? Check out Roll and Play Press at rollandplaypress.com and get 10% off when you buy something by using the code BETTERDM10. Roll and Play Press

In this episode, we learn how to focus... not in general, but rather how to focus on a short list of problem areas rather than a multitude so you can see some real growth as a DM.We also share some announcements for what's happening with us, the podcast, and the closure of Monsters.Rent... But the rise of something you'll enjoy much more. Stay tuned.Session0Studios.comMentioned in this episode:Brought to you by Session 0 StudiosVisit session0studios.com for more information.Follow us on InstagramThanks again for listening to our show. If you like our content and would like to engage with more of our content, head over to our Instagram account, @howtobeabetterdm, and give us a follow. Make sure to watch some of our helpful Dungeon Master Rules videos to give yourself some structure and procedure as a Dungeon Master. Don’t forget to reach out with a DM and we can talk shop. https://www.instagram.com/howtobeabetterdmpodcast/Give Us a Rating and ReviewYou obviously have really good taste, you’re listening to How to Be a Better DM after all. We thank you for your support. If you’ve ever gotten anything useful from our show, take a minute to give us a rating and a review. It goes a very long way to making it so How to Be a Better DM can help many more dungeon masters just like you. If you love our content, help others become better dungeon masters too.

Welcome to How to Be a Better DM! Your host, Tanner Weyland, along with guest host Cayden Ottley, explore an important question: How can you make player characters experience growth in an interesting and earned way when they often enter an adventure with highly experienced backstories? Can every hero have a zero-to-hero moment if they automatically come into an adventure as ex-master thieves, army commanders, or incredibly wise wizards? Well, we help you out so you can give your players a more fulfilling growth arc.Also, we'd like to thank our sponsors, Magic Mind. Check out this link and use code BETTERDM20 to get yours: https://www.magicmind.com/betterdmMentioned in this episode:Brought to you by Session 0 StudiosVisit session0studios.com for more information.Follow us on InstagramThanks again for listening to our show. If you like our content and would like to engage with more of our content, head over to our Instagram account, @howtobeabetterdm, and give us a follow. Make sure to watch some of our helpful Dungeon Master Rules videos to give yourself some structure and procedure as a Dungeon Master. Don’t forget to reach out with a DM and we can talk shop. https://www.instagram.com/howtobeabetterdmpodcast/

Welcome back to How To Be a Better DM, the Official podcast of Monsters.Rent.I’m your Tour Guide today, Justin Lewis, and we have another special tour lined up today.First, before we get into today’s tour, we need to talk about our sponsors: you. Without you, we wouldn’t have this tour, so thank from the bottom of our hearts.2nd, we do have a gift shop. You can visit it at the end of the tour, just go to monsters.rent/shop and there you can pick up all the knick knacks and things that you’ll never use that you only pick up on vacation. There will be also your classic “I went to the Feywild and All I got was this T Shirt” T shirt, but you don’t really want that because let’s be honest, Vacation gimmick shirts never ever look cool.3rd thing, in the show notes of today’s tour, there are some links that may be affiliate in nature, meaning that if you purchase something from the link, part of that will go towards supporting Better Dungeon Master Tours. Be aware of that fact.Ok, with the boring stuff out of the way, let’s get ready. First, everyone, make sure you are wearing your protective yellow vests. Do these vests have special protective charms? No. Are they reflective and very bright so they are easy to see? Yes. Will Better Dungeon Master Tours charge you a fee for losing your vest? Yes. So please do not lose them.I see we have some familiar faces here today. I recognize a few of you from our Tour through the Shadowfell. It’s great to also have some first timers here with us a Better DM Tours. As I said, I am Justin Lewis, and I’ll be your tour guide today. If you love the tour or have comments about my Tour Guide style, feel free to leave a rating or a review. If I get a good rating and a review, my bosses might give me a raise (although let’s be honest, my boss is a real hard case and would never give me a raise). Anyways, who’s ready to have some fun!!!Mirror PlanesOk, follow me, the tour has officially begun. As most of you know, there is a multiverse of dimensions and planes. Most of you know this because most of you came from different realms.Within each Universe, there are also different planes of existence depending on the model that the Universe follows. The Dungeon Master’s Guide actually makes pretty good mention of this. It talks about different  Universe models that connects different planes. It ranges all the way from the Soap Bubble model where each plane is sort of like a soap bubble, randomly bouncing off or intersecting with other planes, all the way to the One world model, where all of the planes are just places on the same world.In many models, the Feywild is a distinctly different place than the material plane. In many of those models, the Feywild is also considered a mirror plane. In fact, in this universe, that is exactly what is the case. The planes are separate places, but the Feywild is a mirror plane of the Material Plane.Ok, follow me everyone. So pay attention to your surroundings right now. As you’ll notice we are in a forest, you can see that in this part of the forest, it is fall. The leaves are losing their color, you can see that we’ve been walking through piles of leaves and there is a slight nip in the air. Remember that. Oh and yes, Mr. and Mrs. Craig, please don’t wander off, I know those bunnies are cute, but I really wouldn’t. Bunnies can often lead you into places that are rather difficult to escape from.Anyways, let me give you a brief refresher on mirror planes. Mirror planes are planes that closely resemble another plane. Often, landmarks like cities, forests, oceans are in the same location and the same general shape. Each plane does have its own effect on the landmark though so you may notice some changes. Yes, I see a couple of you who were with me on our tour through the Shadowfell nodding in remembrance. When we pass into the Feywild, you’ll notice similarities but also important differences. Ok everyone keep up.Traveling to the FeywildAs you may remember with the Shadowfell, traveling to the Feywild in most universes is a process. In most cases, you’ll have to use a spell like Gate, or the more accessible Plane Shift Spell. Gate will let you transport there easy peasy, no problem. Plane shift will require you to know either the Sigil sequence of a teleportation circle within the Feywild, or you’ll need a tuning fork attuned to the Feywild. This means you’ll have to find someone who’s traveled to the Feywild before and hopefully they have a tuning  fork that would work.Today, we are going to use a convergence. Some of you may remember that that is how we got to the Shadowfell, well that’s how we are getting to the Feywild too.For those of you joining us for the first time, a convergence is essentially where the planes intersect so much, that they are one and the same. This overlap allows creatures to pass through from one plane to another. The convergence we are going to is a very interesting place and I can’t wait to show you.One last bit of warning before we get to the convergence. Even though the Feywild is technically the plane of Faeries, it is still home to many wild and dangerous creatures. Even if you see something “cute” don’t be fooled. Also, don’t just take any food that any individual or creature gives you. Some of the food of the Feywild could be considered charmed so check with me before you eat.The ConvergenceAh, and here we are at the convergence. So a couple points to note. Do you see how those trees over there are evergreen and covered in snow, yet not even 20 feet away are the trees we’ve been walking through, the trees that seem to be in fall. And over there, you can see a swath of cherry trees in full Spring bloom. Lastly, in between the cherry trees and the trees of fall, you can see a swath of trees green with the sunshine of summer. You see, we weren’t just walking through the forest. Instead we walked to the corner of the forest, the very edge of this ancient forest. It just so happens that 3 other forests share this corner. Where each forest meets each other forest, we have this, the convergence.In this case, no one quite knows how this convergence came to be, but as you can see from the large rough stone monuments built in a rough circle around the exact point where all forests converge, this place is considered holy for Druids. In fact we do have permission to be here, if you look over there. Hello Fairwind.Fairwind: “Hello Justin, and hello guests of the Better Dungeon Master Tours Company. Welcome to the Druidic Circle of the Seasons. Yes this place is very holy, so I’d ask you kindly not to step on any of the plants of pull of leaves and then rip them apart as you walk along. I hate it when people do that.”Thank you Fairwind. We should only be here for a few more minutes. Ok, so because this site also functions as a druidic circle, it isn’t the same as the Shadowfell entrance we used last tour. We can’t just walk into. In this case we all have to enter the Druid circle and then start skipping around. The feylike attitude and action will trigger the convergence and pull us into the Feywild. It only works if you commit so everyone,  enter the Druid Circle. Now on my count, I want you all to start skipping around, if you want to hum a little diddy, that’s fine, but if you don’t do it, you’ll be left behind and the tour is not giving any refunds.Ok, 3, 2, 1, Skip.La la la la la la la la la laIt worked!Everyone is here… except the Petersens… of course.Oh well.So, the first thing you should not is the similarity to the Material Plane, but let me assure me, we are on the Plane of Faerie.For one thing, note how the converging forests aren’t representative of all of the seasons any more. Instead, now it feels like twilight on a summer’s day. It’s warm, and pleasant. You can also note how the sun seems to be setting, though you can’t see it. It will remain like that during our entire journey through the Feywild.You can also look around and see random Faerie lights. Those small bobbing little lights are what I’m talking about. You may occasionally giant fireflies lazily flying along.Good question Miss Pratt. Though the Feywild may appear light and pleasant, it is still a dangerous place. In fact, let me draw your attention to the forest in front of us. You see a nice forest that seems open and inviting. Now turn around, look at the forest directly behind us. See how it is full of brambles and very overgrown? That’s because we are actually on a boundary line between the Unseelie and the Seelie.Let me explain to you a bit about the Seelie and the Unseelie, but first, we must walk.Everyone, please follow me.The Courts of the FeyOk, so please, nobody eat any of the fruit, as I said. If you get charmed and “choose” to remain here in the Feywild, we will not be giving you a refund.The Courts of the fey are divided into two factions. You have Queen Titania who rules the Summer Court of the Seelie fey, and then you have the Queen of Air and Darkness who rules the Gloaming or Winter Court of the Unseelie Fey.No, that’s not entirely correct Mr. Roberts. The Summer and Winter Courts do not directly align with good and evil, though that’s an obvious mistake people make. You may have many Seelie who are good and many Unseelie who are evil, but the divide of the factions comes, more than anything else, from the opposition the two Queens feel for one another. They are jealous and utter rivals and will try to oppose each other simply out of principle if need be.Of course, you may have other creatures that do not give allegiance to either court. Formorians and night hags are wonderful examples of this. You may also have independent fey entities who reject the courts entirely. In my homebrew campaign, an entity named Dreamtaker was a great example of this, until he went crazy and tried to take over everything.Ok, as we are walking, definitely notice how your surroundings almost seem like you’re in a dream, but you know you aren’t. And actually, this might be an opportune moment to talk about some of the effects on adventurers while they are in the Feywild.Effects on Adventurers in the FeywildThey Feywild is a very magical place.. Oo did you see that, over there, that bobbing light is actually a little pixie. Anyways, as I was saying. While you see a place of trees and wildness, and yes the trees are getting progressively bigger, but while this is what you see, people on the material plane view this place as a dangerous place, and with good reason. There are tales of children going missing into the feywild, kidnapped or lured away by fickle fey creatures, only to return decades later without ever having aged a day. The feywild is a strange place and there are many different version with different rules so to speak.In fact, the Dungeon Master’s Guide give you some really great examples. There are different ways to affect an Adventurer’s Memory or you can reflect the fact that time may move differently in the Feywild than in the material plan. In the DMG it does give you some mechanical ways to play this out, but I would encourage you dungeon masters to first opt for a narrative reason as to why the characters had a time warp and what the difference in time with the material plane is.Alternatively, another effect you can have on adventurers in the Feywild is that with any spell that is cast or magic item used, there is a certain percentage of strange things happening. Choose a percentage, let’s say 10% just because that would make things really fun. So any time a character casts a spell (excluding cantrips) or uses a magic item, roll a percentile dice. If they get your chosen percentage or lower, then roll on the Wild Magic table or make your own Wild magic table. Doing this can be a really fun way to display the randomness and whimsy of the feywild.This is a completely arbitrary rule and you don’t even need to follow it. Hey what happened to Mr. Armonav? He what? I told you. Don’t accept any food from anyone on this trip, well, unless I say so.Mr. Armonav, come here. (Snap noises) Hey, Hey, can you hear me.Yes, I know he’s charmed, I can see that. Does anyone know here Dispel Magic or Break Curse?No one? You came to the Feywild and you didn’t prepare any spells? Well, lucky for you Mr. Armonav, I have a Magic Mind here. Here drink this.What’s Magic Mind? Oh that’s right, there are a few of you here that weren’t on our tour through the Shadowfell.So Magic Mind is a potion and a productivity shot from the Material Plane. It’s designed to replace your morning coffee, tea, or energy drink. It also works very well to get rid of charmed spells that might fall upon you when you accept food from a scantily clad dryad like Mr. Armonav over here. Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to trust scantily clad women.. Or men for that matter.Anyways, Magic Mind has a lot of really magical ingredients including Ashwagandha, Lionsmane Mushrooms and even Vitamins. While it does work wonders on Charmed Persons, it also helps promote productivity in the ordinary person. Oh, you want to know where to get Magic Mind? Well sure. So, as of January 2024, you can now purchase them in any Sprouts Food Market across the Material Plane, or maybe a more economical way to get them would be to go to https://www.magicmind.com/JANbetterdm and use the code BETTERDM20 for a discount of 20% of a one time purchase or a discount of up to 56% if you sign up for a subscription. Also, in case you couldn’t tell, Magic Mind is the sponsor of today’s Tour through the Feywild, so a big thank you to Magic Mind. They actually provided these special vests you are wearing that have the enchantment to stave off any of the random effects of the Feywild, that’s Magic Mind infused garments. One last thing about magic mind. For this month of January, they are giving an even better discount. You can get 1 month for free when you subscribe for 3 months. So with the BETTERDM20 discount code that can get you up to 75% off of a 3 month subscription. Pretty useful if you are going into the Feywild!Anyways, Mr. Armonav, drink this… down the hatch…That’s better. Ok, where was I? Oh that’s right, I was just talking about the effects of the Feywild.Well, as you can see based on what is around us right now, one of the effects of the feywild is that plants can grow to very fantastical proportions. You see those giant mushrooms over there next to that giant fern? Not to mention the massive trees all around us. Yet at the same time, you can pass through a wood where the trees are normal sized.Creatures of the FeywildSo let’s talk about the Creatures of the Feywild. Obviously, if you wanted you could have your players meet elves in the Feywild, they are afterall descended from, or directly from the Feywild themselves. I suppose you could lump the eladrin in with that as well. Almost all of the elves are somehow descended from elves in the Feywild, but Eladrin seem to be much more closely connected. They are analogous to the Shadar-kai of the Shadowfell.Basically any creature of whimsy would be a good fit here. Naturally you have your pixies, I mean we’ve seen an abundance of pixies this whole time. Fairies likewise. You could also find some unicorns in the Feywild, but more often than not, the Unicorns will find you. A note on Unicorns. The legends say that Unicorns are perfect and good. For the most part that is true, however, I’ve heard tales of adventurers meeting some unicorns that were less than helpful. They were arrogant and had a superiority complex, so be warned.Hmm, if you look over there right now, you can see a treant moving among those fir trees. Treants are most often grouchy and crotchety. They would usually kill adventurers rather than speak with them, so that might be a good foe for your campaign.Because the Feywild is, well… wild, any sort of wild thing can feasibly be here. If you want a magical lion to fight your party, you could probably find it here. Same with plants. It would not be too far fetched to find a carnivorous plant here that would be a great challenge for your party.And just like with the courts, don’t make the mistake of associating the Shadowfell with Evil and the Feywild with Good. A better summation would be Shadow versus light, in the physical sense. As you can see around you, this place remains in a sort of soft warm light, compared to the Shadowfell’s general darkness. So I would play on that particular theme and use creatures that might be extra charming, or fantastical. Honestly, even the comparison of light versus shadow isn’t even that accurate considering that the queen of the Unseely fey, the Queen of Air and Darkness, well you get the point. It might be interesting to let your players think that the Feywild is quite safe, but in reality it isn’t…Queen TitaniaYou might be wondering where we’ve been walking this whole time. Yes, I can see that there are many more flowers around us, also, yes I did see that giant caterpillar smoking a Hukkah. Best not to mess with that.We are on our way to have an interview with Queen Titania herself. We are actually walking to the Summer Court. Normally, this would be very difficult, because the Summer Court moves,  but we were able to come to a deal with Queen Titania that she would allow us to come and have a nice chat with her. Everyone, a couple rules.First rule: Use the buddy system. The Feywild, and fey creatures in general are very charming. The Seely Court especially. If you notice your buddy acting dreamily or in a strange way, give them a cuff upside the head and that should clear things up.Second rule: Always obey my commands. If I say to run, we need to run. For those of you who remember the tour through the Shadowfell, you know what I’m talking about.Third Rule: Do not eat any of their food. As they are quite charming, sometimes, whether incidentally or intentionally, their food becomes laced with a bit of their charming magic. I’ve never had this happen, but other guides have had tour members eat some food and decide to stay in the Feywild forever.Last rule: Enjoy yourself! You’re on vacation so just sit back and enjoy the experience. Flash photography is allowed, though I’ll be honest, photos from the Feywild never really turn out. Don’t know why.Ok, so here we are. Notice the perfectly manicured gardens that almost seem to have sort of a wild side? Notice how the forest seems to embrace the Summer Palace as if hugging an old friend. These denote the power of the Seely Queen.Guard: “Halt”Tour guide: “Of course.”Guard: “What is your

Tanner Weyland (00:01.046)Hello and welcome to How to be a Better DM, the official podcast of, wait, I should probably not say that anymore, shouldn't I?Justin Lewis (00:09.162)So as of this recording, you should still say, well.See, that's part of the logistics that I wanted to talk about tomorrow, but I'd say just say it until we decide on anything specific tomorrow with Kayden.Tanner Weyland (00:27.446)Okay, cool. Sorry, you'll have to cut this all out. Okay. Hello and welcome. Oh, sorry. You're good.Justin Lewis (00:33.352)No, it's fine.Justin Lewis (00:37.354).Tanner Weyland (00:40.534)Hello and welcome to How to be a Better DM, the official podcast of Monsters .Rent. My name is Tanner Weyland and I'm here with Justin. Say hi, Justin.Justin Lewis (00:52.042)Hey, how's it going?Tanner Weyland (00:54.644)Oh man, so good. So good. How are you?Justin Lewis (00:58.79)I am recovering from moving, which is the worst. So I'm actually doing pretty good, though. What about you?Tanner Weyland (01:09.366)Good, yeah, you know, it's, my wife and I are trying to get back to the gym, which of course is its own bag of stuff. You know, you go, you're like, oh, there's so many people. I feel so self -conscious, but it's been good. So we got back from that today, but yeah, excited for that, because we used to be really into it, and then we moved last year, and we just haven't been, you know, for a whole year.Uh, but yeah, we're doing better now with that. So excited about that. And I'm more excited to talk about our topic today, which is conditions. Now, specifically, I'm thinking like, uh, conditions that affect the status of the player, like exhausted, petrification, prone, poisoned, things like that. Uh, Justin, tell me, uh, what has your experience been either as a DM or a player in regards to conditions? Like, have they been a positive, a negative oror something not even worth mentioning for you.Justin Lewis (02:12.554)I think they've been sort of both. Naturally, when you're a player, if a condition is foisted upon you, it's generally a bad thing, right? There are few good conditions. As a DM, my experience with conditions has really mostly been in combat. So I'm really excited today to talk about possibly ways that conditions can be.Tanner Weyland (02:31.358)Mm -hmm.Justin Lewis (02:42.458)expanded upon in combat and possibly outside of combat.Tanner Weyland (02:49.414)Agreed because I think that's a real issue, right? Where, uh, when a condition is done for the DM, it's just another, you know, plate to spin. And for the players, it's usually like against them because frankly, I think we can agree on this. A lot of time players have seen that it's not worth specking in, in the ability to cause conditions. That's not always true, but I do find that a lot of players are like, Oh,If it's an enemy we can kill pretty quickly, it's not worth, you know, blinding them or something. And if it's a big boss, chances are their resistances are too high or something. You know what I mean?Justin Lewis (03:31.176)Absolutely, you definitely, this is really going into the mechanics of gameplay and this is probably, I would say as DMs, you're probably either good with the story aspect or the mechanical aspect.Justin Lewis (03:52.042)Or if you're a lucky DM, sorry, I just had to yawn there for a second. Or if you're a lucky DM, you're good with both. And this is definitely more commonly used with the mechanical aspects of D &D where you have to, you know, I saw on a TikTok the other day where you look at your player character sheets and understand what they're going to use. And then you create monsters that would...Tanner Weyland (03:57.366)You get.Justin Lewis (04:21.21)Challenge them, but also be excellent opportunities for them to use certain things. So for example, you know, like in the case that you just said, someone who needs to be blinded, it would be a good idea if you have a character who can use spells to blind to maybe put something in there that blinding them would be a really, really good idea, right?Tanner Weyland (04:37.588)Mm -hmm.Tanner Weyland (04:42.902)Yeah, exactly. Right. Because there's going to be, you know, I think if you open yourself up to, you know, using these more and more creatively, then you're and we'll get to this later, then you're going to find that combats are more interesting and role playing and the consequences from combat are going to be a lot more interesting too. But before we get into that, I'd like to just quickly mention the sponsor of this episode, Magic Mind.You know, we've been talking about this for a second, but we really love this little potion. That's just like a shot of energy in the morning. For me, it really is weird because it's so small, but it really does give me that kind of kick in the pants that I need to start out well instead of just kind of dragging my feet when I get to work, you know?Justin Lewis (05:36.842)Absolutely. Speaking of conditions, there are two conditions that I think in real life we've all, well, maybe three, we've all sort of dealt with. First of all, exhaustion, right? That's a condition we'll be talking about later. And in D &D, it's very severe. Magic Mind is great for exhaustion with a lot of really helpful ingredients, including ashwagandha, lion's mane mushrooms. And, you know, it's full of adaptogens andTanner Weyland (05:52.296)Yep.Justin Lewis (06:06.826)really helpful.Justin Lewis (06:12.458)really helpful ingredients. More than that, they actually have this awesome deal going on. So first of all, if you want MagicMind, you can go to Sprouts, Farmers' Markets, anywhere and get them. But the better place to get them, and I might be a little biased, in fact I am, but the best place to get them would be to go to magicmind .com slash Jan, that's J -A -N, better D -M, B -E -T -T -E -R -D -M. So MagicMind.dot com slash Jan Better DM and then use our code betterdm20. It's like giving us a little bit of extra credit if you do that. So we really appreciate it. But doing that gets you either 56 % off of your first subscription or 20 % off of your first one time purchase. So that's a great deal in and of itself. But in the month of January 2024,Tanner Weyland (06:51.998)Mm -hmm.Justin Lewis (07:10.058)while we're recording this. So this will come out on the 25th. You have six days left. You can get an extra 20 % off, meaning on a three month subscription, you get the first month free, right? So that can be almost up to 75 % off just with these deals. And it only lasts for the rest of January. Again, better magicmind .com slash Jan, better DM, better DM 20 at checkout.But the other two conditions that this helps with is slowed. So if you're slowed in D &D, you can only do one action or a reaction. Casting spells takes twice as long, essentially. You can't run. Magic Mind does the opposite. So you essentially get hasted, where you can take two actions. You can move twice as fast, and things just are so much better. So don't be slowed, be hasted. Go get Magic Mind.magicmind .com slash better the sorry magicmind .com slash Jan better DM back to you Tanner.Tanner Weyland (08:18.934)Perfect. Thanks, Magic Mind. Now to continue with our talk about conditions, like I really want to dive into the ways that they could be utilized better. Because let's take exhaustion. When was the last time that you used exhaustion like against your party or or with any campaign that you've been in?Justin Lewis (08:47.338)Honestly, it's been a very long time. And I say very long time probably because I don't actually remember. I think I might have used it within the last six months, but they probably only gained one level of exhaustion, which is still something, but also in the context of what they were doing, not very much. And personally, I think my issue is,I'm sort of afraid of the consequences myself, right? And this kind of goes back to what I was saying about needing to understand the mechanics because when you tell a player that they have a point of exhaustion and then you throw them into a combat encounter, that could seriously, they're at risk of dying, right? Just because their roles are gonna be so hampered.Tanner Weyland (09:19.752)Yes.Tanner Weyland (09:39.988)Yeah.Tanner Weyland (09:44.758)Yeah, and that's kind of what it, that's what keeps a lot of DMs from approaching or utilizing exhaustion. I think it's that, you know, just like, oh my goodness, this is kind of big. But then also it's the fact that I think most DMs think, oh, this is mostly going to happen if they stay awake longer than 24 hours. And how often does that happen? Like, frankly,there's usually enough going on in the story that they're having multiple combats, like in a row or just like in a day. And so they're just begging to have a long rest by the end of it so that they can get, you know, there's, there's everything back. Right. And so if you think of it kind of within that box, it's exhaustion feels limiting. It feels like it's unlikely to happen, but think about it from, from the terms of.like an adventure, right? When would you be exhausted? It would be when you're going through really extreme weather conditions or something that's physically or mentally, you know, hard on the players or taxing. So think about this. Your players are on kind of a more an expedition type like campaign where they're traveling, you know, through jungles, forests, things like that. Those are perfect times toto have them get the exhausted condition. And if you don't know, exhaustion has six levels. At the first level, you get disadvantage on ability check. Second, speed halved. Third, disadvantage on attack rolls and saving throws. Fourth, hit point maximum halved. Fifth, speed reduced to zero. So they basically can't move. And then sixth, death. So that's where like...It can get really serious very quickly because the first one's like, Oh, disadvantage on ability checks. That sucks to speed half. Okay. You can still make it work after that. That's it's kind of a lot. And, but it's kind of a really cool mechanic because think about it. You know, if your players are kind of going through this journey and you know, you're like, Oh, you're in a really cold, you're on a cold tundra and the winds, you know, biting at them and you know, roll, uh,Tanner Weyland (12:00.01)role constitution saving throw to see if you do okay. And, and basically it's like, Oh, it gets harder the longer they're out there and then they start failing. And some players are doing worse than others, you know, like the, uh, the mages who don't have much constitution, they're over there just, you know, they're walking a half speed. Whereas the, uh, the barbarian and everyone else is doing pretty good. That's a great storytelling opportunity and they haven't fought a single monster, right?Then if you do throw in like a combat then that you know kind of ups everything You know the the stakes and I think that's just a great thing and it doesn't even have to be when they're on an expedition think about if they were in the city and They were you know They were supposed to go through the sewers and kind of wade through the sewer water to find you know Missing girl or something right wouldn't that be a great time to be like, okay?real constitution saving throw because they're wading through like this stuff. They've got, you know, it's really dark kind of rough conditions and they didn't have to be out in the wilderness. It was right underneath their feet. You know what I'm saying?Justin Lewis (13:11.594)Yeah, absolutely. I love the picture you've painted. If you need a great example of this situation, you can think back. If you haven't had a chance, Critical Rules, second campaign, spoiler alert, there's a part where the Mighty Nein are basically, they find themselves in a tundra situation. So really, really cold. And they gainlevels of exhaustion because they're traveling through this cold situation. They're stepping through deep snow. That's a really great example. But I really love the picture Tanner painted. You if you need to think about this in simpler terms, maybe you can think of Oregon Trail, right? The video game that we all played in computer class when we were younger. Or, you know, the Donner Party. Like these people are real life examples ofTanner Weyland (13:55.988)Yep.Justin Lewis (14:08.842)having to essentially deal with levels of exhaustion, right? Even up to the point of death. Now, another alternative rule that you might be interested in using, and I sort of just came up with this, and I don't know if this would be a good idea, but allowing spell casters to cast two spells in one turn in exchange for receiving a point of exhaustion. And...Tanner Weyland (14:35.092)down.Justin Lewis (14:35.69)You know, you might play with that a little bit depending on the spell level or whatnot and obviously who they're fighting, but that might be an interesting way to basically be like, yeah, you can definitely cast another spell. It's going to cost you this much. And you know, you're actually going to feel the effects because now, you know, their roles are going to be at disadvantage and then soon their speeds are going to be halved.and things like that, but that might be another interesting way to add more exhaustion into combat itself.Tanner Weyland (15:02.846)Yep.Tanner Weyland (15:08.31)Yeah, I love that, especially where, you know, if you want to homebrew a few things, then I mean, not only spell casters, but it's like, okay, let's have, you know, the the melee characters, they can make maybe, you know, two, maybe even three actions.You know, in, in, uh, in a turn, but they're going to increase the thing of, uh, a level of exhaustion. And while that might feel like, Oh, that's broken. It's like, well, they need to have a long rest to get rid of that. So that means until they have that next long rest, they, they get disadvantaged on their ability checks. You know, that's, that's a rough time. Um, so play around with that. I don't want to spend all of our time on exhaust exhaustion, but I think it's a classic example of.You know, of DMs feeling like it's just not practical when it could have so much story implications, you know, and I just love it. Um, but let's move on to some of the other ones like poison. Uh, if you're poisoned that that's common condition, right? You're fighting some spiders in the forest. Uh, they start singing and they take, and you take not only the normal damage, but also some point at poison damage. I think that this one, you could really stand to do a lot more homebrew.with it, right? Where, where it's like, okay, yeah, they're poisoned, but it's not just adding points of damage, right? It's like, oh, it's poisoned, but the effect is every this many hours, you know, they take a temporary point of condition damage, right? Where like, there's a lot of different effects that poison can have in real life. And we should let that actually show, you know, when someone becomes poisoned.So that that's kind of my two cents on that, where it's like, okay, make the what happens, play around with it. Don't always make it just straight damage that happens every, you know, every six seconds, but also make it have interesting effects and also interesting cures. Right. Cause if you have that kind of situation where it's like, Oh, this poison isn't going away, but also you don't have to solve it immediately. Cause it's not going to kill you in a minute.Tanner Weyland (17:24.566)then that gives your party a chance to you know, that it gives the chance for the ranger to have an Aragorn moment and be like, okay, I'm going to use roll nature and see if I can find these herbs that will heal it, right? Or something like that.Justin Lewis (17:40.938)Absolutely. One thing I will say around herbs is, well first of all with poisons as a whole, you need to kind of make the punishment fit the crime. And that's the weirdest way of saying, make sure the poison fits the level the characters are at. So if they're higher level, then if the poison is really going to like impact them at all, it should probably be kind of quest worthy. Whereas if they're lower level,Tanner Weyland (18:08.342)Yeah.Justin Lewis (18:09.418)it makes sense for them to get bit by, you know, just, you know, a lower level spider and have to find an herb in the same forest they're in to fix it, right? Because it's going to be a little bit harder for them. Also on that note, play around with the location of the antidote relative to the location of the poison or venom, I guess, technically speaking. In D &D it's the same thing, but, you know,Tanner Weyland (18:20.66)Yes.Tanner Weyland (18:32.97)Yes.Justin Lewis (18:37.034)you might put the antidote in the same forest, or you might put it somewhere else. If you put it somewhere else, have the presence of mind to make sure that the effects of the poison don't outright kill them before they have a chance to get the antidote, right? Like Tana was saying, make it pressing, but not pressing to the point that they die. Last thing I'd say is, in real life, poisons, they sort of...Tanner Weyland (18:49.118)Yeah.Justin Lewis (19:04.906)kind of overcome your body, right? And Lord of the Rings is a great example. Frodo descends more and more into becoming a wraith, right, because he was poisoned. At first, you know, his effects, his symptoms were not as severe. So if you're home brewing it, that might be something you could also play around with. You know, however long it takes, their symptoms start to become more severe because the poison is reaching different parts of the body.Tanner Weyland (19:35.03)Yeah. And I think there's just to speak also to the effects. There's some effects that's like, Hey, you could totally have so much fun with this. Like, think about it. Does a barbarian need, you know, uh, do they need charisma? Not really. But imagine if they got poisoned with something that kind of eats away at their flesh, or at least just models it like, like it makes it modeled where they just look bad. And so like over time, day by day, they're looks are looking worse.And they need that kind of antidote and they don't know where it is. And that's a great story thing where, oh, they've got to do this whole thing. Like this is built into the character now where they're looking...

Hello, and Welcome to How To Be A Better D, the official podcast of Monsters.Rent. My name is Tanner Weyland, and together we will learn about how to prepare the best adventures and environments for our players to enjoy. Today my dear friends, we are going to talk about how you can help your players advocate for themselves.Also, this episode was sponsored by Magic Mind. Go to this website: magicmind.com/JANbetterdm and use our code, BETTERDM20 to get up to 40% off your subscription.Mentioned in this episode:Brought to you by Session 0 StudiosVisit session0studios.com for more information.Join Our DiscordSo a little bit of a spoiler alert. We’re building an army. That’s right, we’re building an army of amazing dungeon masters who want to make the world of D&D a better place. If you want to join our army and fight by our side against the evil forces of boredom and bad dming, join our Discord and lend your voice to the cause. Go to Session0studios.com/discord and join for free today. Discord

Welcome to How to Be a Better DM!Today, we're talking about how to invite silliness and funny business to your table, and why it can help your group enjoy the entire experience.Here is the episode transcript for anyone interested:Welcome back to How to Be a Better DM, the official podcast of Monsters. Rent. I'm Justin Lewis here with my friend Tanner Weyland. Hi. Yeah, that's all I got, sorry. Yeah, good to see you all. Great to be here. Tanner and I are in rare form today. We just recorded another episode, which, which went a little bit long.So we're going to kind of do this fast mode. We're going to do a speed run, uh, but which probably means we'll just go the normal length because I'm a little bit. That's how it always goes is we're like, Oh, let's be fast. Okay. 20 minutes later. Exactly. Uh, without further ado though, let's jump in actually first a quick mention, follow us on Instagram at how to be better DM and at monsters.rent. Now let's jump in today. We're going to talk about the flip side of one of our episodes last month, which was how to add tragedy to your game. So they were talking about how to, how to add comedy to your game and in the Shakespearean. Uh, definition of the word comedy just means a happy ending, right?Everyone, like Tanner said, last time, everyone gets married. Essentially in this episode, we're going to talk specifically about making people smile, laugh, or giggle kind of that sort of comedy, the comedy that we're, we're more familiar with today. Not necessarily just a happy ending because obviously everyone wants a happy ending, but more of how to add comical moments or silly moments, or, you know, he has and gaffaws and laughs to your game. Yeah, and it's so important because I think, you know, being a DM and playing D& D is so much of it is about fun, and it's hard to separate fun from funny, right? In terms of just Practicality, right? Cause you're having more fun if you think things are funny and in, and if you're able to joke with each other and riff, and that's, you know, sometimes there's not always a place for that in every part of the game, right?Because like we mentioned last time, if you don't have tragic moments or more serious moments, then the game kind of loses some of its weight. But, but honestly, I would argue that, uh, that if you have five times the amount of comedy to tragedy. Then you're in a pretty good place because people are, are happy to come.They feel like they're in a very friendly environment and you know, but, but there's also some issues, right? Like sometimes people don't feel like, you know, maybe things are too straightforward or you feel like there's not enough room for, for growth, you know, or not growth room for like silliness. Where people are like, Oh, everyone wants to just get through the encounter.They don't want to hear me make a joke about like, Oh, I hit this guy in the knee, you know, or, you know, or trip him up because everyone wants to know if the mechanics are right for that and everything like that. Right? The people who get over serious is my main point. And I think that you can get around that by just, you know, as the DM putting your, uh, best, you know, silly foot forward and being like, Hey, not everything needs to be super serious, you know? Absolutely. Uh, you definitely need to know the tenor of the table, and maybe that's the wrong phrase. Understand What people want and when, uh, and if you listen to your characters, you'll get a good sense of when they're willing to be silly or when they're willing to be serious. My, my rule of thumb is when it's a specific, uh, plot point, it's probably going to be serious. And when I say specific plot point, I mean, like, if something happens one way or the other, the campaign has major consequences, right? The different differences in trajectory, but if it's not so, uh, serious, obviously in terms of consequences, definitely feel free and add in some, some comical elements. Uh, also if it is serious, there's no.Nothing wrong with sort of taking breaks in between the seriousness, right? So if they're in, you know, a starship and they have to find their way off before everyone knows they're there, uh, you know, you can take a small moment to be like, yeah, you open up a door and you find us a storm trooper sitting on the toilet.Right? Uh, you obviously close that and then you get back to work. Right? There's nothing wrong with that. But when you get to the final boss scene and you're fighting the dark Lord in his capital ship. You may or may not want comical elements unless your party trades in comical elements on a day to day basis, right?If they fight that way, then that's how you need to play. So, so definitely listen to your party. Yeah. And, and speaking about party, I think. Uh, as a DM, you can certainly build in moments that you think will be kind of funny, like challenges specifically, if you throw in like a puzzle or a skill check, that's just kind of silly in general, right?you know, Like people trying to work through, uh, like sneakily through a factory filled with a bunch of breakable statues and then, you know, something falls over, then it's like, you kind of like, there are ways that you can turn like a skill check or something else. Kind of into a potentially comedic situation, right?But, but I think the best way that you can actually add it into your campaign is just paying really close attention to what your players want to do. So sometimes players want to want to do something that, you know, in, in real life, you just couldn't do. And I'm not talking magic. I'm saying like, no, it just doesn't make sense.And you know, there's a couple options. You could go with that. You could be the DM who's like, no, that doesn't make sense. Try again. Or you actually do it, but it goes how it should go, which is terribly. And that's hilarious. You know, where essentially you don't always have to shut down your players. If they're just doing something stupid or something that wasn't that well thought out.It's like, no, let, let them do it and then play it up. Don't like, don't turn their mistake into something that's just like, Oh, take 10 steps back, but instead be like, Oh man. You let's accentuate how funny this is and how terribly it goes, and you can do that a lot with your tone and how you act and you're like, okay, roll that diet, you know, and then explain and be like, so you wanted to do this.This is what actually happens that I think that you really want to just. Embrace what your players are kind of the, the, the opportunities they give you, right? Both in terms of their mistakes, but also sometimes they're, they're being a little bit silly in a conversation and they, and you can tell that instead of like letting your characters over seriousness. Pull them back to being serious, you know, give into that like more often than not and like kind of let the conversation Tend in a sillier direction a lot of it is just adding silliness to the game isn't so much You being super funny, but it's more about Not shutting down the natural funniness and the silliness that comes with just playing with a bunch of people, right? That's probably the best tip that we can give is that if you want comedy in your game Realize that you don't have to be the comical person, right? You can just let your players be the funny ones, right? They'll do funny things. They'll do things like Tanner said, that are nonsensical. And every so often you can do things that are somewhat similar, or you think that would make them laugh, but you don't actually have to be the comical one.Just let your players be the funny ones. Everyone will laugh and you know, uh, life will go on. Yeah, and kind of going along with that, if you make a mistake and let's say you're like, Oh, this is going to be so difficult. And then the player comes up with a really overly simplistic solution that totally works, then laugh at yourself, you know, be like, okay, so I plan on this.Well, well, I guess this is done. Okay. What now? You know, they're like, that's, that's also a funny situation. And if you open up and kind of let yourself be a little bit vulnerable there, it can be hilarious for your players too. You know, uh, I think in terms of adding silliness, lightheartedness is the key to it.All right, don't, don't try and ridicule players to an extreme extent. You can kind of poke fun at like what they chose to do, but you know, don't just like, if you can tell it's bothering them, move on. You know, uh, or, you know, make, make it so that you're more laughing at the situation rather than them. Um, because you don't want to start making fun of people that way in a way that they get really hurt by.Um, but, but I think that, that you can absolutely add it to every session. That you do, and it's only going to make it so that players are excited to come back week after week and going off of something. I heard from writing excuses, which is Brandon Sanderson's writing podcast, or at least it was. I don't know if he still does it, but they say for comedy, you take something normal.And add something unexpected. So example, you know, my storm trooper pooping on the toilet, right? The party is running, trying to find a place to hide. They open the door. Storm troopers basically in full armor sitting on the toilet, right? That's Normal, because that's what people do, but it's also unexpected because you're like, this is a star destroyer.Why is it, you know, they're not supposed to have bathrooms in the galactic empire, you know, of the seven. Another example. Yesterday, my wife and I were kind of joking around, like, what if you don't tip the door dasher? Like who's bringing you your food. And I was like, yeah, he just brings out like a giant bean, like a bean, like the size of a bowling ball and just gives it to you.That's what he gives it to you. And it's, it's, it's normal. Cause it's food, but it's also like, it's just a big bean, you know, like it's weird. So, so kind of stuff like that. She, she got a kick out of it, but, uh, stuff like that, where you take something slightly normal. And you make it unexpected in some way that sort of breaks people's state and makes them put their head up and pay attention.But also when they think about it, they're like, that's Why? Like what? Uh, it's easier said than done, obviously, but that's sort of a small framework that you can work off of. Yeah. And a lot of times funniness, uh, and silliness is just a bad contrast. Like you were saying, right. It's like, Oh, that's just, that's odd.Right. Like it's finding something that like, Oh, maybe works, but it's a little bit off kilter, like, Oh, there's, you know, there's three pigs that you could win at the fair. Uh, two of them are like pork chop and then another one's bacon. Then third one's like Guillermo, right? It's like, it's just, it's about that incongruity and, and you can play with that a whole lot of ways where it's like, okay, maybe they're in a serious conversation with an NPC.Who's all business. And then suddenly they mentioned the weather and he gets really weirdly specific, right? He's like, uh, no, but please, the nine day forecast says this, how dare, you know, like, it's just adding a little bit of weirdness within like a bunch of normalness. And sometimes that's the most funny situation that there is.Right. Uh, but yeah, I would say that, you know, something to avoid though, when trying to be funny is trying too hard. Um, because I, I've, I've been guilty of this in my life. Uh, I've, you know, I've had multiple people being like, man, you're really funny when you're not trying. Uh, thanks. And, and through my tears, I'm like, thank you.Uh, and. I think that that's kind of the key where it's like, Hey, you know, if a joke doesn't land or something that you thought was going to be silly, no one really paid attention. That's okay. Don't let it, uh, you know, trip you up at all. Just keep going. Uh, and you know, once again, don't take it too personally.If something you plan to be funny wasn't, uh, More be excited when you're able to accentuate the funniness that a player is trying to get going, right? Or just create it out of what they're doing. That's oftentimes a lot more funny and You're gonna enjoy yourself a lot more that way because you have less expectations built up. Definitely don't try to be funny Just do things that you think would be funny And if you can make yourself laugh, then that's a win. And it's very likely that other people will laugh. Sometimes they won't, but that's probably the third tip that I would give. Do things that would make you laugh. Not do things to be funny, but do things that you think are funny, right?And there's a very fine line there. One is, you're trying way too hard. The other is, haha, this is great. Do you understand the difference? Yeah, exactly. And so I think, you know, we said we keep it short and we will because frankly, it's a simple topic. But, you know, I guess my main, my last thought before I pass back to Justin is, you know, don't fight the funny, uh, if you don't have to, right?If it's a really serious moment, then it's okay to do it then. But for most of the campaign, don't let mechanics or you thinking that something's ridiculous, like become like a negative, right? Let them accentuate things and actually make it funnier. Kind of like, uh, you know, it's like letting the stream flow, you know, remove the blockages rather than try to redirect it. If that makes sense. I love that. That honestly, we should make that into a t shirt Tanner. Don't fight the funny. Uh, cause that is, I love that saying so much. So here's my last, um, my last thought. Why are impatient people always so skinny? I don't know why. It's because they can't stand the weight. Uh, that, that was a small joke for you, but yeah, see, so, uh, don't overthink it.Just do things that have fun. And if you do need to, you can go look up jokes online, right? Uh, if that's what you really need to do, but I wouldn't resort to that. Uh, just my top three tips. Let your players do the funny, uh, don't fight the funny as Tanner said, add normal to unexpected. And then lastly, do things that make you laugh and you should be just fine. Uh, this has been how to be a better DM. We're so very grateful for you listening to us again in this new year, and we wish you the best roles for you and the worst roles for your players. I'm just kidding. Uh, but seriously, natural twenties for everyone. Uh, we'll be back next week for another great episode until then let's roll initiative. Mentioned in this episode:Join Our DiscordSo a little bit of a spoiler alert. We’re building an army. That’s right, we’re building an army of amazing dungeon masters who want to make the world of D&D a better place. If you want to join our army and fight by our side against the evil forces of boredom and bad dming, join our Discord and lend your voice to the cause. Go to Session0studios.com/discord and join for free today. DiscordAlways Have Your Sessions Prepared!You work 8 hours a day. You spend time with your family when you come home. You do work around the house and it seems you never have as much time as you would like to prepare your D&D sessions. Does this sound like you? Wouldn’t it be amazing to have endless material prepared for your D&D sessions anyways? That’s where Roll and Play Press comes in. Roll and Play Press provides D&D 5e Compatible materials for any type of session. Running a one-shot? Check out their One Shot Wonders book with over 100 one-shot ideas. Getting started with your new sci-fi campaign? Get their Game Master’s Sci-Fi Toolkit to have your games much more prepared. Why reinvent the wheel? Check out Roll and Play Press at rollandplaypress.com and get 10% off when you buy something by using the code BETTERDM10. Roll and Play PressBrought to you by Session 0 StudiosVisit session0studios.com for more information.

Welcome back to How to Be a Better DM, the official podcast of Monsters.Rent. Thank you for joining me, I’m Justin Lewis, and today, I will be your guide through the Shadowfell. We have a lot to cover, including me talking with a very special guest later in the show.Real quick if I can, I would like to say thank you to all of you who have joined The Guild. It’s been amazing seeing the collaboration between everyone in the Discord server and getting to know people from across the world. It’s also been cool to see some of the homebrew creations you have made. It’s fun being a part of it and seeing you guys make it really cool so just wanted to say thank you guys.Now, let’s take a tour of the Shadowfell.In today’s podcast episode, you will come with me as we enter into the Shadowfell, look for some of its inhabitants, talk about some of its dangers, and hopefully make it back out alive. The Shadowfell is a very dangerous place. Please, stay with the rest of the group, we don’t need any Wandering Wanda’s or Misbehavin Mavens.We have a big group in the tour with us today so if you get lost look for this big yellow flag I am holding up.Alright, so as you all know, right now we are standing in Faerun, one of the worlds of Dungeons and Dragons. Traveling here was no easy feat for many of you, but this tour is going to be worth the cost. Also, I can see many of you looking around warily. I know we are walking into a crypt. It’s ok, I’ve used a turn undead spell, so most of the undead in this general area should be turned right now… hopefully. I’ll explain why we are here in this crypt a little later.What is the ShadowfellBefore we get to the Shadowfell, there are a couple things that you should probably know, like what the heck is it in the first place?Well, because the multiverse is so vast and complex, the Shadowfell can be anything you want it to be, but for the most part it has some similarities multiverse to multiverse. I will also say, that because the Shadowfell changes D&D game to D&D game and sourcebook to novel, I might miss some things in this edition of a tour of the Shadowfell, so if I miss anything, please let me know. Send a message to @howtobeabetterdm or @monsters.rent on Instagram. The first thing you need to know is that the Shadowfell is always a separate plane unto itself, a demi-plane, or a region, depending on where in Reality you find yourself. Generally, traveling to the Shadowfell is a bit more involved than just going there, but we’ll get to that in a second.On this tour, we’ll be visiting the Shadowfell as a completely separate plane than our own. We’ll explain a little more of what the Shadowfell is once we get there, but for now, know that it is a plane of shadow, darkness, despair and danger. So should be a fun place to visit right.Traveling to the ShadowfellOk, then, when it comes to travelling to the Shadowfell, there are a few options.Of course you can use the Plane Shift spell to get there, but aside from needing to be able to cast a 7th level spell, that means you must also have a tuning fork tuned to the Shadowfell, or know the specific sigil sequence of a teleportation circle within the Shadowfell. The tuning fork is a littler easier to come by, but the spellcasting ability, not so much. With the tuning fork, it needs to already have been attuned to the frequencies of the plane, meaning it was on the plane and it was struck on something. Alternatively, you can simply find a place where the planes converge. These places are naturally called, convergences. For any planes that share a convergence, these Gates can be virtually anywhere, but they usually are where magical energies pool. For example, you might find a dark wood where the shadows of 7 trees overlap, or you might find that a pipe in a sewer leads straight to the Shadowfell, or you might find a crypt with a corner of a mausoleum that is just a bit too creepy. In fact, that last example is the one we are going to.Alright everybody, step this way. Mr. Johnson, please don’t frolick with the resident undead, yes thank you, I’m aware they want to eat you and bite you. Please stay with the group. Ok, everyone, we are now in one of the mausoleums of the Crypt and if you look in that corner, no light penetrates it at all. Over there, right now, is a gate to the Shadowfell. Now, in a moment we are going to walk through there. But first, let me warn you, intraplanar travel is sometimes unpleasant. If you feel sick, put your head between your legs. Please don’t throw up on the nice vests we gave you, as you will have to return those at the end of the tour.Ok, here we go… Lets step through the portal……And voila, we are in the Shadowfell (sound of people throwing up in the background).General ConditionsYes Miss Collins, very good question. How do we know that we are in the Shadowfell indeed?Well, you see, the Shadowfell is what is called a Mirror plane or dimension. It mirror what is on the Material Plane, or our plane. It is similar to the Fey Wild and any other mirror planes that exists.This means that many things you would find on the Material Plane, also exist in the Shadowfell, with some changes however. First of all, have you all noticed the chill? Are any of you feeling depressed? Those are effects of the Shadowfell. Now, I also want you to look around at the Mausoleum. Do you notice any changes?That’s right, this mausoleum looks much more run down, dirty, and frankly in disrepair. The walls are crumbling and some black ichor seems to be oozing in the corners. The Shadowfell isn’t a perfect mirror, instead, it is a shadowy representation, a darkened simulacrum.Follow me everyone, we are going to exit the Crypt. Please don’t wander from the tour group, I have a special protective charm here that can protect you, but only if you stay within 30 feet of me. In my last group, a young couple snuck off, and let’s just say, they didn’t get their complimentary Shadowfell Tours Baseball Caps.Again, notice how similar our surroundings look to the material plane. Yet notice how the gravestones we are walking past are much more decayed and run-down. Also, look up in the sky. Though it feels like nighttime, there are no stars, and no moon. Even look at my torch. Where this burning light provided about 30 feet of light in the material plane at night, it only provides about 10 feet of light, which is why I provided each of you with a torch as well.Now, one last thing you should all know before we continue the tour is that even though the Shadowfell is a mirror plane of the Material Plane, it still shifts. That is partly why it is so dangerous. Places may shift location from time to time and even disappear or be replaced with new places entirely. No please, everyone steps into the Tour vehicles. These vehicles have also been warded, but please keep your hands and feet inside the vehicles at all times.Possible Enemies You can Encounter in the ShadowfellRight now, we are traveling to a Domain of Dread called Barovia, and I’ll explain that and much more as we continue, but first let me tell you some of the creatures you might find in the Shadowfell.First of all, notice the trees we are passing. See how the trees are desiccated and craggly. You won’t find greenery in the Shadowfell, unless it is by some foul magic, in which case, I would run far and fast if I were you. Basically everything here wants to kill you, well not everything. There are the Vistani.The Vistani are wanderers who wander the Mists of the Shadowfell without being affected by it. They wear bright colors and are known for their musical talent as well as various other trades including entertaining, silversmithing, cooking, and horse-trading to name a few. An adventurer traveling through the Shadowfell might come upon one of their Caravans if they needed to trade for some goods or just some sort of respite from the despair of the Shadowfell. But the Vistani are not ones to cross, they have the “Evil Eye”, an ability that lets them curse anyone they look at. Still, they won’t kill you on sight. In fact, we are coming upon a Vistani caravan right now. Notice the bright colors. Ho there! How are the roads!Vistani: “Terrible. Would you like to buy anything?”Actually, I would love to buy something. What have you got by way of magical potions?Vistani: “We have a potion of Engorgement, a Potion of Haste, and a Magic Mind.Oh yes, a Magic Mind! That would be perfect, they are actually the Sponsor of Today’s Tour through the Shadowfell. Would you mind explaining to my tourists what the Magic Mind is and does.Vistani: “Of course! In the Shadowfell, we are covered with a misma of despair. If you stay here too long, you might be overcome with this despair. You might find yourself waking up, dreading the day, feeling sluggish and like your mind is filled with cement. Magic Mind is designed to help stave off the effects of the Shadowfell despair. It has wonderful ingredients including Ashwaganda, Lionsmane Mushrooms and many more vitamins. It’s the perfect thing for adventurers in the Shadowfell.”That’s right, and because it is the sponsor of today’s tour, you can purchase one in the gift shop at the end of the tour, or visit any local Sprouts Food Markets, or you can go to https://www.magicmind.com/JANbetterdm and use the code BETTERDM20 at checkout. That gives you 1 month free with a 3 month subscription, but it is only for the month of January.Oo, Oo, look over there!If you look out over that forest that is just down in the valley from us, see that very tall figure. Yes, I’m talking about that enormous creature that seems made of shadow and has large horns. That is a Nightwalker. That is one of the creatures that adventurers might find in the Shadowfell. It is definitely one of the more challenging creatures, with a Challenge Rating of 20. The Nightwalker is a sentient creature of undeath and darkness. It takes pleasure in suffering  and the corruption of other creatures. The nightwalker generally stands about 20 feet tall and has a natural weakness to sunlight. The nightwalker also has a strange ability to turn its victims into Bodaks, which is another creature adventurers might find in the Shadowfell.In fact, if you look at the Nightwalker’s feet, you can see a bodak now. See those humanoid looking creatures that have rough clothing on, black skin and a face that looks hollow with a mouth that is too long for the face? That’s a bodak. Bodaks are similar to Nightwalkers in that they are sensitive to sunlight and they are equally malicious. While a Bodak’s Challenge rating is only a 6, it has a lot of damage resistances that make it a very challenging foe. Add to that the fact that the Bodak has an aura that when activated can cause necrotic damage to most around it within 30 feet. It’s definitely a foe to beware of.Wait… Listen… do you hear that mournful howl? Yes, here, let’s take a quick detour… Drive the vehicles this way… And yes there it is.Over there, sitting on that boulder is a Lonely Sorrowsworn. See its pale body and it’s black tears. Also notice how it is reeling in its long harpoon-like appendage. It has one on both arms.Sorrowsworn are very interesting creatures. The Shadowfell is a melancholy place, and sometimes that pervasive despair can cause the creation of a Sorrowsworn. There are different sorrowsworn types, and each embody a particular type of despair. The Lonely Sorrowsworn we have here embodies the deep desire for companionship. Because of this, the Lonely Sorrowsworn shoots out its appendages and pulls its victims closer to it. The Angry Sorrowsworn can be distinguised by two bickering heads. The Angry also uses violence to sustain itself, making its attacks grow stronger when its opponents fight back. The flip side to that is also true, meaning that if adventurers want to avoid bad encounters with this beast, stop fighting it and its attacks will weaken and it will become confused.The Hungry Sorrowsworn can be spotted by their gaunt and emaciated frames. They have no fat on their bodies which leads them to constantly seek anything to fill their bellies. They will eat adventurers alive if necessary.The Lost Sorrowsworn have multiple limbs and grasp at anyone they see in a desperate and fearful attempt to overcome the anxiety of being completely lost. These Sorrowsworn are created by people visiting the Shadowfell who become lost and wander in the mists. The smallest Sorrowsworn are the Wretched Sorrowsworn. These small creatures are called The Wretched Sorrowsworn. They run in packs, ranging the Shadowfell, devouring anything they come upon. If you adventure in the Shadowfell, beware the massive numbers of these creatures.There are many creatures that one might find in the Shadowfell. Basically any undead creature or any creature of shadow can be found here. We won’t spend too much time on the creatures because we have an appointment in Barovia.Domains of DreadBefore we get to Barovia, let me tell you about the Domains of Dread. The Domains of Dread are what you might consider a Demiplane, located within the Shadowfell, somewhat separated by everything else  by thick mist. Now this might change universe to universe.The mists surrounding the domains prevent its inhabitants from leaving through simple means, which means that these Domains of Dread are in some way, sort of prisons as well as terrifying places to visit. In fact these Demiplanes of Dread were created by the Dark Powers, unknown beings of, well, dark power, that then sort of subjugated the lords they installed over each section of the Demiplanes of Dread.Look here, here are those mists that I was talking about. Everyone please stay inside the vehicles as we pass through.There are multiple sections within the Domains of Dread, but the oldest and most well known is rules by the vampire, Count Strahd Von Zarovich. In fact, The Curse of Strahd Module, takes place in Barovia, under the watchful gaze of the Count himself (1, 2, 3 ah ah ah).Whether or not it takes place in the Shadowfell, I believe is up to the Dungeon Master.Ah, and here we are, at Barovia. Barovia was originally a location in a material world that has long since been forgotten, but was transported here to the Shadowfell by the Dark Powers using those mists that we just passed through. As you can see, Barovia consists of a large valley that is mostly dense forest, with some cliffs and rocky outcroppings. Looking overhead, you’ll see the dark overcast sky. It’s always like that. Unlike some other areas of the Shadowfell, Barovia may seem slightly more similar to the material plane in that the trees and animals that populate this region are similar to what we have in the material plane. If you look to your right and left you’ll see hardwood trees while up on that ridge over there are more evergreen type trees.  Now look at the top of the valley and you’ll see our next destination itself; Castle Ravenloft, Strahd’s own home and center of ruling. Now that we’ve entered the town itself of Barovia, notice how unwelcoming and distrustful the inhabitants here are. Slamming doors and wayward glances are normal here. Over there, you’ll see the Amber Temple, an ancient temple built by wizards who were then corrupted by the Dark Powers. Inside you’d find images of dark beings from all across the multiverse. In fact, that temple is where Strahd forged his deal with the Dark Powers in the first place.  It’s a pity we weren’t able to visit the other three villages in the valley, Vallaki, Krezk or Oraşnou, but, if you want to visit those villages, then you can book the extended tour. This is afterall, the introductory tour.Ah, now we ascend up the steep slope to that rocky outcropping, upon which, you can all see, the tall Castle Ravenloft. Strahd’s home.As we ascend, turn your heads back and notice that you can see most of the Barovian valley. This is presumably why the castle was built up here, as well as its natural defensive nature that any castle should afford.Ok, everyone please exit the vehicles. Remember as we enter the Castle, we are Strahd’s guests. At Better Dungeon Master Tours, we pride ourselves on our guests survivability rate, and we have a deal with Strahd that as long as you stay with the tour guide (me) you won’t be harmed. If you wander off, I can’t help you.Yes, these enormous wooden doors were handcrafted decades ago, notice the dark and wonderful workmanship adorning them from top to bottom.Ah, Count Von Zarovich!Strahd: “Please, call me Strahd. Welcome to Barovia and welcome to Castle Ravenloft.”Very well Strahd. Thank you so much for hosting our tour group. Your valley is most impressive.Strahd: “Thank you. Please follow me. The room you just entered into is our foyer. We will go through just two more rooms before we sit down to have our interview. This next room we are entering is the chapel. Every good castle must have one, and Raveloft is no different. Moving on, we are passing into the main dining Hall. Notice the enormous chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. All three are handmade from Crystal long ago, before I was brought to this accursed plane. Here you will all find seats at my table with a wonderful meal prepared.”Excellent. Now Strahd, as you know, our tour involves mostly Dungeon Masters who would care to introduce the Shadowfell to their players, but there may be a few players here too.Strahd: “Yes, this is one reason why I agreed to the interview. If your tourists had been nothing more than peasant, I would have killed each and every one of them.”Of course. So with our audience in mind, what would you say is the hardest part of traveling in the Shadowfell?Strahd: “I think the hardest parts involve the pervasive despair for one, and a difficulty of providing food. The Shadowfell is a very difficult place to live. Most of the creatures here are inedible for mere mortals. Even the more mundane creatures that have managed to survive here will not taste fully satisfying. It is part of the curse living here. Any DM that wishes to bring their players here could highlight the despair and for characters who spend extended periods of time here, the DM might choose to have them gain levels of exhaustion, or perhaps shift their entire roleplaying demeanor to be more melancholy and more depressed.As far as the food is concerned, any food the adventurers eat, unless it has been blessed, will taste dull, and possibly bland. Its very taste will add to the melancholy and despair of the Shadowfell. The water will feel...