Monsters should be mysterious when encountered for the first time. Never say, for example, "a basilisk sits on rock'. Describe how it looks, not what it is. Think of Nedry in Jurassic Park, confronted by a cutesy little dinosaur, he ignorantly dismisses it as harmless before it spits goo into his face and its friends eat him.
"A monster creeps into the room" "Fireball!" "Okay, as I was saying a [literally any creature immune to fire] creeps into the room, as you send a fireball at it, it laughs..."
These videos are super helpful for me. I'm planning my first Grim Hollow campaign and I'm extremely anxious about it. I've always ran modules and this is the first time I'm quest designing and writing a narrative. It has proven extremely daunting and overwhelming so these videos help give me inspiration for setting the tone of a Dark Fantasy game. Thank you!
We're so glad you're enjoying them Andy, and hope they help ease the anxiety of running your first Grim Hollow campaign. That's exciting, and remember the main thing is to have fun!!
I had an idea called “the blade raven”. It was a Druid originally taken the form of a raven that fell into a pit of thousands of goblins with blades drawn. Died in the middle of a transformation while getting stabbed. This was great information for D n D. I loved it!
I love these videos. I always try to implement dark fantasy on some level in everything I create from DnD to writing and these are awesome tidbits to consider
Love all the videos about dark fantasy and how to portray it successfully. I would be interested in a video exploring monsters you might encounter either from the monster grimoire or otherwise in the provinces of etharis
This is a really great video, i agree with a lot of it. If an example is also needed for a theme as well as setting. Dark Souls three, the ringed city is a phenomenal place of dredd and wonderment to really give off that sense that you really need to tread carefully here, for not even the gods themselves know where it begins or even ends. Years ago, i was asked by my friends to dm for a very first horror dnd campaign and I said " alright bet. " I spent a month into making a homebrew of our title. < hopless abyss, the journey of mistakes. > where our journeying party of beginners from the forgotten realm were kidnapped by very strong bag men and plane jumped into the abyss itself, with only a night hag as a guide. She leads them down the clustered worlds destroyed that were never told, the skies themselves swarming with shadow dragons among hundreds and worse still were the shadows of people that resided. Past run down churches and kingdoms, sliding down rubbles of stone and being met with obstacles that met a characters criteria. I felt a little merciful by giving the players each three levels more. The night hag despute the issue of trust explains as best she could that the only way to truly escape is to find the pale night... the venture across this mish mash of stitched lands became daunting, for the enemies not foreign to the abyss like orcs, goblins, kobolds, and even demons were all being hunted down by the surprise I had in store for them. The avatar of lolth herself blocked the way forward. Great resourcefulness was needed. So in a clever investigation rolls they manage to find hoards of untouched gold to pour towards lolth to have the dragons fight her in their stead. Once that carnage began they all make for a mad dash towards a gorge... falling down to where no soul dares to. That is where the current session ended and they now have ptsd with me as a dm.
All good advice but what I also do is to NOT give details "You see a shadowy shape", "It moves in a hulking manner", "It was huge but unbelievably fast. In a blink of an eye, it came out of the forest, grabbed our mule, and ran off. All we got was a glimpse of the creature. We could hear it crashing through the forest and hear the dying agony of the mule, then nothing, complete silence." Or you describe one part of the creature in detail leaving the rest undescribed. "The tip of the long sickle-like claw protruded through the crack in the cave wall, it moved up and down slowly stealthily explorating the opening as if searching for something to grab. It was jet black in color, darker than the darkest shadow, but shiny like obsidian glinting like metal freshly oiled and sharpened to a razor's edge."
Very cool, I'm thinking of using a random creature generator to design weird and unknown monsters for my party to fight. Then I'll just use stat blocks from existing creatures
OK now I'm imagining a 9th level party being sent by the local lord to kill the dragon for a portion of it's hoard, and the dragon countering with offering them a quest to kill the local lord and take his place.
"I attack the gazebo" will forever haunt my dreams. Time for a haunted construct building, or perhaps a gazebo mimic
Monsters should be mysterious when encountered for the first time. Never say, for example, "a basilisk sits on rock'. Describe how it looks, not what it is. Think of Nedry in Jurassic Park, confronted by a cutesy little dinosaur, he ignorantly dismisses it as harmless before it spits goo into his face and its friends eat him.
So, so so helpful. I've wanted to run a dark fantasy campaign for so long it's a bucket list item.
Thank you, I’m so glad! Be sure to check out the other videos on the channel, dark fantasy is totally my vibe! 😄
"A monster creeps into the room"
"Fireball!"
"Okay, as I was saying a [literally any creature immune to fire] creeps into the room, as you send a fireball at it, it laughs..."
These videos are super helpful for me. I'm planning my first Grim Hollow campaign and I'm extremely anxious about it. I've always ran modules and this is the first time I'm quest designing and writing a narrative. It has proven extremely daunting and overwhelming so these videos help give me inspiration for setting the tone of a Dark Fantasy game. Thank you!
We're so glad you're enjoying them Andy, and hope they help ease the anxiety of running your first Grim Hollow campaign. That's exciting, and remember the main thing is to have fun!!
I had an idea called “the blade raven”. It was a Druid originally taken the form of a raven that fell into a pit of thousands of goblins with blades drawn. Died in the middle of a transformation while getting stabbed. This was great information for D n D. I loved it!
How did I miss your RUclips channel?! One of the greatest DM's I ever had.
The “formidable” series of videos is the best in gaming or on RUclips.
I love these videos. I always try to implement dark fantasy on some level in everything I create from DnD to writing and these are awesome tidbits to consider
Love all the videos about dark fantasy and how to portray it successfully. I would be interested in a video exploring monsters you might encounter either from the monster grimoire or otherwise in the provinces of etharis
This is a really great video, i agree with a lot of it. If an example is also needed for a theme as well as setting. Dark Souls three, the ringed city is a phenomenal place of dredd and wonderment to really give off that sense that you really need to tread carefully here, for not even the gods themselves know where it begins or even ends. Years ago, i was asked by my friends to dm for a very first horror dnd campaign and I said " alright bet. " I spent a month into making a homebrew of our title. < hopless abyss, the journey of mistakes. > where our journeying party of beginners from the forgotten realm were kidnapped by very strong bag men and plane jumped into the abyss itself, with only a night hag as a guide. She leads them down the clustered worlds destroyed that were never told, the skies themselves swarming with shadow dragons among hundreds and worse still were the shadows of people that resided. Past run down churches and kingdoms, sliding down rubbles of stone and being met with obstacles that met a characters criteria. I felt a little merciful by giving the players each three levels more. The night hag despute the issue of trust explains as best she could that the only way to truly escape is to find the pale night... the venture across this mish mash of stitched lands became daunting, for the enemies not foreign to the abyss like orcs, goblins, kobolds, and even demons were all being hunted down by the surprise I had in store for them. The avatar of lolth herself blocked the way forward. Great resourcefulness was needed. So in a clever investigation rolls they manage to find hoards of untouched gold to pour towards lolth to have the dragons fight her in their stead. Once that carnage began they all make for a mad dash towards a gorge... falling down to where no soul dares to. That is where the current session ended and they now have ptsd with me as a dm.
I SLAY THE GAZEBO!
You are an inspiration
Silent Runesmith face cameo
All good advice but what I also do is to NOT give details "You see a shadowy shape", "It moves in a hulking manner", "It was huge but unbelievably fast. In a blink of an eye, it came out of the forest, grabbed our mule, and ran off. All we got was a glimpse of the creature. We could hear it crashing through the forest and hear the dying agony of the mule, then nothing, complete silence." Or you describe one part of the creature in detail leaving the rest undescribed. "The tip of the long sickle-like claw protruded through the crack in the cave wall, it moved up and down slowly stealthily explorating the opening as if searching for something to grab. It was jet black in color, darker than the darkest shadow, but shiny like obsidian glinting like metal freshly oiled and sharpened to a razor's edge."
Excellent points about getting mud on ya mo matter the choice.
Developing a plan for a new campaign and this hits the spot
Awesome! 😄
The gazebo encounter is from a Knights of the Dinner Table comic.
Super helpful!
How do I get a seat at your campaign table? I'm a fellow Australian, based in Sydney.
Very cool, I'm thinking of using a random creature generator to design weird and unknown monsters for my party to fight. Then I'll just use stat blocks from existing creatures
There is nothing you can bring to the table that will genuinely scare me. My fears are beyond your capacity.
OK now I'm imagining a 9th level party being sent by the local lord to kill the dragon for a portion of it's hoard, and the dragon countering with offering them a quest to kill the local lord and take his place.
Those rules for rests are also in the phb, you just have to look for them and they are put out of the way for normal players.
Like number 420. Blaze it play more dnd!
Despite the title, this video has absolutely nothing to do with making monsters more formidable.
Just play savage worlds lol