"Hmm, how can I ensure this fits into my light-hearted, humorous story?" *Remembers MASH takes place in an army hospital "oh yeah, it's all coming together"
That would be cool. Like a virtual DM. A single- or multi-player RPG system, like Roll20 or Fantasy Grounds, which you could use as a framework to build quests in. A DM could build out a campaign flowchart, record short videos (like cutscenes) to play at specific points in the flow, and players could buy those quests.
Alright, this is where it's AT! Sidequests can really help to break up the "go go go" mentality a lot of games fall into. Using a sidequest to take a quick break from whatever world-shattering event is happening that month can help to bring variety to your campaign.
Always a fan of the Ginny Cinematic Universe. The basics are great here. A couple of ideas as you go on. Alternate dialogue options for the GCU characters done in character. Sort of multiple ways you can help the party along. Multiple endings, again portrayed. But that is about it. You clearly articulate how to scale the quest and how to alter the overarching narrative. This is solid, exemplary work. As per the Usual
Love the flavour of this quest. Well done Ginny. I would highly recommend not replacing the spectre with a shadow. They have a lot of resistances, and their strength drain ability can outright kill your party's wizard in as little as two hits.
Oh, my players would LOOOVE this! While I do play in a homebrewed world with a homebrewd system, this would make for a great way to introduce the players to the necromancer cult I've been hiding! A few minor details would be altered, but this is sooo good!
Sure! In y world/system, magic is a bit different. After the Gods died, the one responsible for passing souls into the afterlife has... well... Been absent for 250+ years. This lead to the creation of an order in her church "the Penitent of Odara" people who mark their soul with an emblem, damning them to never be able to pass nor rest after death, but it allows them to use Soul Arcana (Manipulating the souls of mortal races), they use this to allow the souls to pass and also "redeem" those that have greatly harmed others. They do this by either putting their souls back in their bodies momentarily to preform menial tasks or even use their souls as a wisp and giving them simple commands, after they follow these commands, they finally pass. Now, since not everyone wants their souls to be damned forever, or even to devote their lives to a dead Godess, some mages managed to create an imitation of the mark. It works just as well as the original, but they believe that their way of using Soul magic will either bring them closer to immorality or, for some, even end the world ending event. (A corruption that perverts all it touches, love->obsession, apathy->hate, plus it's like a terminal magical cancer that turns you into a monster, appeared when people tried bringing back the gods and... failed) The Necromancer cult uses mortals for experiments, combinbing their Soul arcana with Death arcana, ripping the souls to shreds in the process, such, whenever they kill a target with a Soul spell, the soul gets destroyed in the process. Because of this, they are hunted by both the Church of Odara and well... Everyone! Some members of the cult have also turned to the Blight for easier access to eternal life (lookup Penanggalan, my player's 'favorite' enemy) or just to give the middle finger to the church. They, as a faction, are joinable in my campaign (Even have a special variant of the Penitent subclass for mages). Some of their views are as follows: -The gods (Or at least Odara), need to stay dead. -The souls are a quantified currency, such, it has a price. -Insular tribes, they know very little about other cults of Necromancers, this also means that their morality vastly differs, but also ensures their hideout not being found if one betrays them. -In favor of keeping the World trees. -While largely apolitical, they stand against any house that either has a Penitent or supports the church, such, they also try to eliminate them. I can already imagine... For this sidequest, a Necromancer would pose as a Penitent, since they are WELL NEEDED on a battlefield for both sides. she would even have a bottle of a blighted substance that has necromantic powers. That is sure to give my players enough dread. She'd only use that bottle if discovered, so, until then, they might have a decent chance to build up trust with her.
Really like the side quest videos, a lot of fun with the costumed characters presenting part of the story, like in the "NPCs for your Tabletop Game" videos!
hey ginny✨i have stolen all of your side quests they all ran really well with this hospital quest being the general table favorite. i have loved them all ♥️wisteria lives with her grandfather abiscus above the crafty vial which is owned by her family my players still visit them for health potions now and again with a lil discount for all their help✨augery has a recurring role in my larger plot she is seeking her lost family members and shares a hometown with one of my pcs and elliwyn is happily necromancer free her and her twin brother elaran helped turn the tide of the war by recruiting the party to help at the hospital thank you ginny for these adventures and these amazing characters♥️♥️♥️
I want so many more of these!! I'm a fairly new DM and something like this is incredibly helpful for learning how I can start fleshing out my campaign beyond the main storyline. Thanks!
This sounds like a great sidequest for my Death Cleric, Valakhad Heropath. Serving Anubis in guiding souls to a peaceful judgement, he would fault to his flaw, making the end of the necromancer his own personal and irrevocable mission. Then only accept the gold once he lays each soul to rest with a merit of pity presentable for their judgement, and reassures Elliwyn as he'd see her as a war hero.
Oh my god. Ginny, you are a lifesaver. I was struggling finding a sidequest for my The Dark Eye group next saturday set in the days of the nameless one. Sure, there needs to be a few adjustments made for the world, but the general plot fits perfectly. Also - props for the presentation! The video felt almost like a documentary retelling with people involved. Really well done!
I got to DM this as a one-shot for a few friends who are new to D&D and they loved it! Thank you so much for this and hoping there'll be more of these videos because you rock it! 💖
neat. Short, sweet, to the point. Actually not a bad scheme for the necromancer. Motives and method are clear and make sense. (Though starting a rumor that steers people towards your dead drop is questionable. OMG, the pun. A necromancer with a dead drop! Brilliant.)
It sounded like a well hidden drop, and he did say the cult was dangerous. Not many people would try investigating it. In fact, nobody did until the captain refused to retreat and instead hired the party
So grateful for keeping that opening, made me laugh more than I thought possible. ALSO THIS Series idea is FIRE!! I love this thank you for this and all you do!
I'm running a DND highschool campaign, but watching this gave me the idea of having the party accidentally traversing a rift in time to when the country was still new and at war. This series is awesome thanks so much Ginny!
Ok, that little song and dance in the intro was too funny! That already got a "like" from me and haven't even watched the video yet! Keep having fun Ginny!
This series is gonna be amazing and helpful. I cannot wait for more. And this is already gonna be inside tonight's game. Literally was like...what can happen between exiting the realm of the dead, finding their way back to the prime and then making their way to the Purple Heart Mountains (Tiamat's heart) ... Well they are passing through a combat between those from the country with the swamps and the country with the tech...so looks like there are wraiths in them thar hills
I was once in a campaign where we had to stop a zombie apocalypse by travelling into the future and magically destroying the source of the disease. At one point we had to run from a hoard and my centaur carried two elves plus baggage to safety, at one point having to make an endurance check that basically would have failed if it wasn't a 20
I just ran this as a band of blades mission and gave my legion Elliwyn the Healer as a new medic specialist. engagement roll was a 6, so controlled start. I started by getting the squad to the field hospital, someone died and gutted a bedridden soldier and was then immolated by black-shot. After that, the group sent the medic, Aurora, and a rookie around the facility while our heavy, Riya (who was in command of the mission), babysit the most accident-prone Star vipers to ever grace Aldermark. one literally ran out of the tent and had the 3 other squaddies and Riya had to try and catch the kid and managed to crit. Aurora and her rookie bumped into Lassan who i made a pompous Orite Viscount. Aurora is an orite princess but her kingdom is the size of a neighbourhood whereas the viscount's land was a small town so he would not listen to her or the rookie. After that Elliwyn the Healer went off to go do an amputation (did the joke at the end of the POV video) and then the pair proceeded to go around in circles looking for clues but only finding stones that they were sure were clues. returning to the tent, they bumped into Gregor who told them about Dormal, next they looked for Lassan again but he had gone off to a different base and Riya lost track of the rookies in the process. We had a laugh talking about where they were and how they had managed to get stuck in a net and were dangling from a tree in said net. the two specialists found the rookies and went to investigate the hills where they XCOM-style ambushed one of Blighter's agents who was going to retrieve the message at the drop-off point (including the rookies all missing their shots apart from one) the agent survived and did a "you won't capture me alive" and swallowed a poison pill. Aurora then found a box at the drop-off point and Riya opened it away from her and a spring-loaded paper glider was launched out, under that was the message from Dormal one of the rookies tries to figure out what the agent used as a "you won't capture me alive pill" and declared that "Ah yes this poison pill is made of poison) Sounds of battle were coming from the camp and so the squad rushed back to find out what was going on they fought through the undead quite quickly but then again The legion is used to fighting undead as that is the setting's main enemy They found Dormal who raised a giant shadowy ghost to fight them, luckily they had Akorosian Electroplasmic ammo (FLASHBACK) and shot it to pieces and hit it like a pinata after putting it in an Electroplasmic snare. Riya set her giant sword on fire using some oil and just ran it through Dormal like it was a 1000-degree knife in a satisfying video after that Elliwyn the Healer transferred and was oath sworn into the Legion
I really like it! Very gritty setting makes it feel even spookier, feels like it could easily be run in one session. Can't wait to see more side quest ideas from you!
I really like this idea, I've been struggling to get my PCs to care about the common man, and this might be just the thing to show them that its not just nobility with a foot in this race
I love adding "side quests" to a campaign... keeps things flexible and forces characters (particularly casters) to be prepared for more than just a main-campaign rollout. Fighting fire giants >> prepare all the cold spells. Oh beans! Undead are immune/resistant to cold!
I can also see this as a Pieces of Eight puzzle, where the McGuffin piece your characters seek was stolen and they happened to find this conflict going on by happenstance, only to discover that Elliwyn happens to have found the lost piece on a corpse a few months back, innocently offering it up as her random token of thanks.
If the gaps between Ginni's parts and Elliwyn's parts was a little longer people could almost use this video as a part of the side mission, literally bringing Elliwyn to life before the players eyes.
Getting ready for a new campaign that a) starts in a town near a battlefront; and b) involves a mystery plot involving undead. Timely and most appreciated!!!
Wishing you lots of luck! There's a channel here I would 110% recommended, he's got good advice that's yet to fail me yet (called The DM Lair) and if you're not watching already, I'll bet it's another great resource
It looks great Maybe in addition to the video, have either timecodes or separate "unpublished" videos in the description to link directly to the NPC answers, that way a DM could provide the direct links to the video parts needed to their players without revealing the plot twist of it :)
Oh, I am absolutely using this! I already had a questline set out involving an army that includes necromancers that will raise the fallen who have volunteered for service beyond life. My PC, an undead-hating ranger, is going to already struggle with this, but when I used this side quest to foment dislike for necormancers before meeting the noble Nerco Corps.... Oh! Amp up that emotional and moral conflict, baby!! Thank you for the inspiration!
So questions as I would love to add this into a campaign. 1: is the healer who was attacked first actually the necromancer? 2: would eilowyn be a NPC eager to join a party so noble? 3: if the party refuses the gold from the captain to help with the cause would they receive a secondary reward from someone else? 4: and I'm sorry in advance for asking this one but I have a party member who constantly does this. How would Eilowyn react to a party member flirting with her and making advances.
I love it! I'm a DM, and my players are currently fighting a war against orcs. I'm going to to make the necromancer a doppelganger. Thanks for the adventure and all the hard work, keep it up!
Yes, this is great! Please make more! I’m a new DM playing through the starter pack to learn the ropes, but I was considering writing my own adventure after this one and this fits in perfectly with the overall storyline I was thinking for my own campaign. If nothing else, it’s great inspiration for the types of encounters and quests I can offer my party.
Nice ideas, I'm excited to see more of this series! For this scenario, it would be pretty funny if the party laid a trap for the necromancer by putting those amputation skills to good use. Sever a corpse's limbs, but then cover the work with clothing so it's not apparent until it tries to stand up. It may not catch the necromancer, but it lures them out without endangering anyone, and it's hilarious (to anyone who didn't know the person anyways).
I like this. Especially that you talked about how to scale it. Dealing with a broad topic like "undead" definitely adds a lot of options. You could probably do something similar with elementals. Love the concept. Keep it up!
It is indeed quite interesting. The concept is quite amazing. I think what I love the most is the "setting idea". Characters can be made up, names and monsters too, but just the setting is actually great and it could definitely help in a pinch!
I love this. For some reason, I'm picturing slightly more modern, Trench-style warfare for this adventure, but I bet it would work just as well with a medieval setting.
for whatever reason, there's a lot of scenarios that I just don't realise I'm able to consider as settings for a quest, and when I see someone that does it's like, holy shit this was an option the whole time? this is that, I love this series already
This side quest is so cool! The tone is palpable! I love how grim and dark it feels without being grading. Your performance adds a lot to the atmosphere! Now I have to find a way to implement this!
I really love this side quest idea! Great use of undead (which there can never be enough of!). I also love the mixing of the horror of war with good old fashioned make-your-skin-crawl horror!
This is perfect! It gives enough details for the core of an adventure, but leaves plenty of room to change things or flesh them out (snicker). This is exactly the kind of thing that I can use to enhance my campaign.
TOTALLY stealing this! My group will probably travel along a border between two nations at war and they already have a hatred for undead (train them young, folks, nothing like Level 1 undead cackling dryly at your mishaps)! Feels like a Witcher sidequest, and I mean that as a compliment.
We'd love to hear more of your side quest ideas. So often folks get bogged down in long over-arching campaign ideas with multiple countries or factions, but just some basic (if even difficult) side-quests that have only some or no impact on the major plan are great, and often overlooked.
this is fantastic. I'd thoroughly look forward to seeing the next ones. Not only is it a great side quest on its own, but it helps DMs learn to make their own side quests and mysteries, by essentially following the format. Been looking for something like this for a while, awesome work!
I liked this. With a week until my group's next session, it's nice to have a little D&D content as a treat. It felt a bit like a bedtime story, which is so nice what with *gestures vaguely at everything* going on right now.
I've sent my DM this video, in case it provides some inspiration - not that he's ever struggled with content, afaik - but could still be useful at some point. GG, Ginny! Keep em' coming.
I just ran a one-shot that drew heavily from this (added a lengthy opening and tweaked the investigation portion to suit the anarchic nature of the party) and it is very good. Also was the first session I've ever run as a DM and like 90% of the tips I had gotten from this channel. Thank you for making this content! :)
This is a fantastic side quest, for a group of players who are between level 3-7. It's just perfect for a game I'll be starting in a few weeks. Literally it's perfect. Keep up the great work ginny!!! Thanks Ginny. Probably gonna change a few names, and it's not going to be the nation of lycegea, but other than that it's perfect.
This sounds very fun and well thought out that things are to the point. Very A to B to C, with B being optional. I was concerned my one-shot was too short, but looking at this it sounds like the perfect amount for a 4-5 hr adventure
“if you have a war going on in your world…” My world with a colossal war between over 30 nations on it’s horizon, many of which are already starting to fight with each other: “I am 4 parallel universes ahead of you.”
This reminds me of the ongoing burnout among Healthcare professionals amidst resurgence after resurgence of our current health problem. Way to be topical with your art!
Very useful! Additions could be twists on the expected outcome or subplots to “intercept” the party if they go really left field… but I’m not even sure you’d need it. Great stuff!
This is super inspiring! Honestly, most of the people I’d be running a game for also watch your channel, so I can’t use the scenario verbatim, but this video really broadens my perspective about the creative possibilities of side quests. Plus it was really fun to watch! Thank you.
I'm a long time DM and honestly I love these more relatable side quests. I am sometimes so focused on the grand arcs and their side quests that these modular quests are a welcomed addition to my arsenal. Thank you! And subscribed! Also love your songs!
I'm running a the untamed (the Chinese series) inspired DnD campaign, and this storyline is pretty perfect to be adaptated into a relevant side quest. Thank you for this series. I'm a relatively new DM and I really want to make my game entertaining and your video in general are very fun and very helpful. Hope you have a good day 💖
This fits in with my campaign perfectly. My Characters are about to leave a fey wood to find out they have been missing for 6 months. War has broken out and this will be a nice way to introduce them to that War
@mjjf26 Do it! Ginny’s videos are what finally pushed me over the edge to learning and starting to DM and I love it so much! My literal only complaint is how hard it is to schedule sessions.
This is an amazing concept and project. The details are great, but the versatility is even better. I know others have said the same thing in the comments already, but I'm really looking forward to more of this series. As long as you can give enough details to flesh out each side quest while still leaving room for DMs and GMs to adapt it for their own campaign worlds, they can get a lot of mileage out of each video (with plenty of likes and view for you). P.S. Including your own cosplay characters into the mix is the icing on the cake. Love it!
I love the idea and I'd love to hear about another quest with another NPC. I was hesistating at first, but in the end I like it. And the video in itself is great as always :D
This is bloody amazing! It's a really nice mystery and is definitely run-able in one session. I really loved that you included scaling in this video. I occasionally run one-shots with groups that re-use characters from other one-shots or even step out of a campaign once in a while and there tends to be some progression, so I often have to scale around the adventures I run between 3rd and 7th level (if somewhat more rarely above). Really helpful, thanks for sharing^^
Such a great idea, Ginny! I'm really into this series idea. Thanks for sharing an adventure with us...I mean, of course, yes, it's *your* adventure, we wouldn't want anything to OMG LOOK OVER THERE!
![Steal This Side Quest: Smuggler's shipment goes missing [Augury]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/_Yi4RbUdcL4/mqdefault.jpg)
![Steal This Side Quest: Smuggler's shipment goes missing [Augury]](/img/tr.png)
"Hmm, how can I ensure this fits into my light-hearted, humorous story?"
*Remembers MASH takes place in an army hospital
"oh yeah, it's all coming together"
Oh yeah, make Hawkeye and Radar and the others into extra healers to add to the fun and chaos!
Ah hell yeah, MASH is something special for me. Used to watch it when I stayed up late.
This presentation style is almost like an rpg visual novel... A very unique form of storytelling is developing here!
I was thinking the same! It's really unique! So cool
That would be cool. Like a virtual DM. A single- or multi-player RPG system, like Roll20 or Fantasy Grounds, which you could use as a framework to build quests in. A DM could build out a campaign flowchart, record short videos (like cutscenes) to play at specific points in the flow, and players could buy those quests.
"Blue Eyes Human Man" is my favorite Yu-Gi-Oh card.
He's even a Dark Magician as well lol
I decided he would have “Blue eyes, blonde hair, human man”. My party named him “Southern Californian Healer”
Ginny Di’s next big EP: “Songs to Fill Your Bucket of Fake Blood To” 🤣
Alright, this is where it's AT! Sidequests can really help to break up the "go go go" mentality a lot of games fall into. Using a sidequest to take a quick break from whatever world-shattering event is happening that month can help to bring variety to your campaign.
Maybe a good one-shot too
Always a fan of the Ginny Cinematic Universe. The basics are great here. A couple of ideas as you go on. Alternate dialogue options for the GCU characters done in character. Sort of multiple ways you can help the party along. Multiple endings, again portrayed. But that is about it. You clearly articulate how to scale the quest and how to alter the overarching narrative. This is solid, exemplary work. As per the Usual
VERY excited about this, AND for the whole series. Thorough, multifaceted, and flexible: thank you!!!
Love the flavour of this quest. Well done Ginny. I would highly recommend not replacing the spectre with a shadow. They have a lot of resistances, and their strength drain ability can outright kill your party's wizard in as little as two hits.
So what I'm hearing is replace it with _two_ shadows
Can’t most things kill a party’s wizard in two hits?
@@DeathnoteBB not permanently
Fair! I just suggested it because it's a lower CR than a Specter.
@@GinnyDi shadow is actually a good example of the flaws of CR. Even though shadows have a lower CR they can in fact be way deadlier.
As a dungeon master, these stand-alone insertable side quests are always great and I would love to continue to get more of these.
Ginny has mastered this storytelling format.
Oh, my players would LOOOVE this! While I do play in a homebrewed world with a homebrewd system, this would make for a great way to introduce the players to the necromancer cult I've been hiding! A few minor details would be altered, but this is sooo good!
I am most curious about this cult of yours. If you can say, do tell me more.
Yoooo same! I have a hidden cult with a few tweaks this would fit right in as well as tell us more.. Pls
Sure! In y world/system, magic is a bit different. After the Gods died, the one responsible for passing souls into the afterlife has... well... Been absent for 250+ years. This lead to the creation of an order in her church "the Penitent of Odara" people who mark their soul with an emblem, damning them to never be able to pass nor rest after death, but it allows them to use Soul Arcana (Manipulating the souls of mortal races), they use this to allow the souls to pass and also "redeem" those that have greatly harmed others. They do this by either putting their souls back in their bodies momentarily to preform menial tasks or even use their souls as a wisp and giving them simple commands, after they follow these commands, they finally pass.
Now, since not everyone wants their souls to be damned forever, or even to devote their lives to a dead Godess, some mages managed to create an imitation of the mark. It works just as well as the original, but they believe that their way of using Soul magic will either bring them closer to immorality or, for some, even end the world ending event. (A corruption that perverts all it touches, love->obsession, apathy->hate, plus it's like a terminal magical cancer that turns you into a monster, appeared when people tried bringing back the gods and... failed)
The Necromancer cult uses mortals for experiments, combinbing their Soul arcana with Death arcana, ripping the souls to shreds in the process, such, whenever they kill a target with a Soul spell, the soul gets destroyed in the process. Because of this, they are hunted by both the Church of Odara and well... Everyone!
Some members of the cult have also turned to the Blight for easier access to eternal life (lookup Penanggalan, my player's 'favorite' enemy) or just to give the middle finger to the church.
They, as a faction, are joinable in my campaign (Even have a special variant of the Penitent subclass for mages). Some of their views are as follows:
-The gods (Or at least Odara), need to stay dead.
-The souls are a quantified currency, such, it has a price.
-Insular tribes, they know very little about other cults of Necromancers, this also means that their morality vastly differs, but also ensures their hideout not being found if one betrays them.
-In favor of keeping the World trees.
-While largely apolitical, they stand against any house that either has a Penitent or supports the church, such, they also try to eliminate them.
I can already imagine... For this sidequest, a Necromancer would pose as a Penitent, since they are WELL NEEDED on a battlefield for both sides. she would even have a bottle of a blighted substance that has necromantic powers. That is sure to give my players enough dread. She'd only use that bottle if discovered, so, until then, they might have a decent chance to build up trust with her.
Really like the side quest videos, a lot of fun with the costumed characters presenting part of the story, like in the "NPCs for your Tabletop Game" videos!
hey ginny✨i have stolen all of your side quests they all ran really well with this hospital quest being the general table favorite. i have loved them all ♥️wisteria lives with her grandfather abiscus above the crafty vial which is owned by her family my players still visit them for health potions now and again with a lil discount for all their help✨augery has a recurring role in my larger plot she is seeking her lost family members and shares a hometown with one of my pcs and elliwyn is happily necromancer free her and her twin brother elaran helped turn the tide of the war by recruiting the party to help at the hospital thank you ginny for these adventures and these amazing characters♥️♥️♥️
I want so many more of these!! I'm a fairly new DM and something like this is incredibly helpful for learning how I can start fleshing out my campaign beyond the main storyline. Thanks!
when in doubt, roll 2D6 Orcs and add a Bugbear
Between this and The Cold and Hungry Sea, I am blown away. You've got some amazing quest/story ideas and I can't wait to hear more
The Cold and Hungry Sea?
@@archeronline4133 her mermaid themed adventure on her patreon
I absolutely love this idea, and I'm looking foward to more!
Now if you'll excuse me, there's a civil war that could use some zombies...
*Readies Divine Smite*
This sounds like a great sidequest for my Death Cleric, Valakhad Heropath. Serving Anubis in guiding souls to a peaceful judgement, he would fault to his flaw, making the end of the necromancer his own personal and irrevocable mission.
Then only accept the gold once he lays each soul to rest with a merit of pity presentable for their judgement, and reassures Elliwyn as he'd see her as a war hero.
Oh my god. Ginny, you are a lifesaver.
I was struggling finding a sidequest for my The Dark Eye group next saturday set in the days of the nameless one. Sure, there needs to be a few adjustments made for the world, but the general plot fits perfectly.
Also - props for the presentation! The video felt almost like a documentary retelling with people involved. Really well done!
I got to DM this as a one-shot for a few friends who are new to D&D and they loved it! Thank you so much for this and hoping there'll be more of these videos because you rock it! 💖
Ahh, that makes me so happy to hear!! I'm glad your table had a good time!
neat. Short, sweet, to the point. Actually not a bad scheme for the necromancer. Motives and method are clear and make sense. (Though starting a rumor that steers people towards your dead drop is questionable. OMG, the pun. A necromancer with a dead drop! Brilliant.)
It sounded like a well hidden drop, and he did say the cult was dangerous. Not many people would try investigating it. In fact, nobody did until the captain refused to retreat and instead hired the party
So grateful for keeping that opening, made me laugh more than I thought possible. ALSO THIS Series idea is FIRE!! I love this thank you for this and all you do!
I'm running a DND highschool campaign, but watching this gave me the idea of having the party accidentally traversing a rift in time to when the country was still new and at war. This series is awesome thanks so much Ginny!
Ok, that little song and dance in the intro was too funny! That already got a "like" from me and haven't even watched the video yet! Keep having fun Ginny!
Never has stealing been so whimsical!
I often say “spare the dying “ is my hated cantrips. This storyline is a perfect reason why.
Great video.
This series is gonna be amazing and helpful.
I cannot wait for more.
And this is already gonna be inside tonight's game.
Literally was like...what can happen between exiting the realm of the dead, finding their way back to the prime and then making their way to the Purple Heart Mountains (Tiamat's heart) ...
Well they are passing through a combat between those from the country with the swamps and the country with the tech...so looks like there are wraiths in them thar hills
I was once in a campaign where we had to stop a zombie apocalypse by travelling into the future and magically destroying the source of the disease. At one point we had to run from a hoard and my centaur carried two elves plus baggage to safety, at one point having to make an endurance check that basically would have failed if it wasn't a 20
I really enjoyed listening to this one and would love to hear what other ideas you have.
I like the perspective of showing the darker heart wrenching sides of war that is often forgotten in fantasy.
I just ran this as a band of blades mission and gave my legion Elliwyn the Healer as a new medic specialist.
engagement roll was a 6, so controlled start.
I started by getting the squad to the field hospital, someone died and gutted a bedridden soldier and was then immolated by black-shot.
After that, the group sent the medic, Aurora, and a rookie around the facility while our heavy, Riya (who was in command of the mission), babysit the most accident-prone Star vipers to ever grace Aldermark.
one literally ran out of the tent and had the 3 other squaddies and Riya had to try and catch the kid and managed to crit.
Aurora and her rookie bumped into Lassan who i made a pompous Orite Viscount. Aurora is an orite princess but her kingdom is the size of a neighbourhood whereas the viscount's land was a small town so he would not listen to her or the rookie. After that Elliwyn the Healer went off to go do an amputation (did the joke at the end of the POV video) and then the pair proceeded to go around in circles looking for clues but only finding stones that they were sure were clues. returning to the tent, they bumped into Gregor who told them about Dormal, next they looked for Lassan again but he had gone off to a different base and Riya lost track of the rookies in the process. We had a laugh talking about where they were and how they had managed to get stuck in a net and were dangling from a tree in said net.
the two specialists found the rookies and went to investigate the hills where they XCOM-style ambushed one of Blighter's agents who was going to retrieve the message at the drop-off point (including the rookies all missing their shots apart from one) the agent survived and did a "you won't capture me alive" and swallowed a poison pill.
Aurora then found a box at the drop-off point and Riya opened it away from her and a spring-loaded paper glider was launched out, under that was the message from Dormal
one of the rookies tries to figure out what the agent used as a "you won't capture me alive pill" and declared that "Ah yes this poison pill is made of poison)
Sounds of battle were coming from the camp and so the squad rushed back to find out what was going on
they fought through the undead quite quickly but then again The legion is used to fighting undead as that is the setting's main enemy
They found Dormal who raised a giant shadowy ghost to fight them, luckily they had Akorosian Electroplasmic ammo (FLASHBACK) and shot it to pieces and hit it like a pinata after putting it in an Electroplasmic snare. Riya set her giant sword on fire using some oil and just ran it through Dormal like it was a 1000-degree knife in a satisfying video
after that Elliwyn the Healer transferred and was oath sworn into the Legion
“Sidequest” indeed, this is better than most of my oneshots! xD
Looking forward to running it one day, thanks for the content!
I really like it! Very gritty setting makes it feel even spookier, feels like it could easily be run in one session. Can't wait to see more side quest ideas from you!
I really like this idea, I've been struggling to get my PCs to care about the common man, and this might be just the thing to show them that its not just nobility with a foot in this race
I love adding "side quests" to a campaign... keeps things flexible and forces characters (particularly casters) to be prepared for more than just a main-campaign rollout. Fighting fire giants >> prepare all the cold spells. Oh beans! Undead are immune/resistant to cold!
Featuring the hit song "Bucket of Fake Blood"....
I can also see this as a Pieces of Eight puzzle, where the McGuffin piece your characters seek was stolen and they happened to find this conflict going on by happenstance, only to discover that Elliwyn happens to have found the lost piece on a corpse a few months back, innocently offering it up as her random token of thanks.
If the gaps between Ginni's parts and Elliwyn's parts was a little longer people could almost use this video as a part of the side mission, literally bringing Elliwyn to life before the players eyes.
Getting ready for a new campaign that a) starts in a town near a battlefront; and b) involves a mystery plot involving undead. Timely and most appreciated!!!
Will be needing more of this series soon, as I'll be starting up a campaign (only my 2nd!) soon. They'll start at level 2, even! Great work
Wishing you lots of luck! There's a channel here I would 110% recommended, he's got good advice that's yet to fail me yet (called The DM Lair) and if you're not watching already, I'll bet it's another great resource
I like it! And hunger for more, like the unquenchable thirst for the flesh of the living those poor zombies were feeling.
It looks great
Maybe in addition to the video, have either timecodes or separate "unpublished" videos in the description to link directly to the NPC answers, that way a DM could provide the direct links to the video parts needed to their players without revealing the plot twist of it :)
Perfect timing for a quest that directly ties into the main plot I'm building for my players.
Oh, I am absolutely using this! I already had a questline set out involving an army that includes necromancers that will raise the fallen who have volunteered for service beyond life. My PC, an undead-hating ranger, is going to already struggle with this, but when I used this side quest to foment dislike for necormancers before meeting the noble Nerco Corps.... Oh! Amp up that emotional and moral conflict, baby!! Thank you for the inspiration!
So questions as I would love to add this into a campaign. 1: is the healer who was attacked first actually the necromancer? 2: would eilowyn be a NPC eager to join a party so noble? 3: if the party refuses the gold from the captain to help with the cause would they receive a secondary reward from someone else? 4: and I'm sorry in advance for asking this one but I have a party member who constantly does this. How would Eilowyn react to a party member flirting with her and making advances.
I love it! I'm a DM, and my players are currently fighting a war against orcs. I'm going to to make the necromancer a doppelganger. Thanks for the adventure and all the hard work, keep it up!
This is brilliant! It sounds like a great side quest.
Her jamming out with her bucket is such a mood
I really like the idea of connecting your players with the on the ground troops.
This would actually make a great live action video. Great story, Ginny. Looking forward to more of these.
Yes, this is great! Please make more! I’m a new DM playing through the starter pack to learn the ropes, but I was considering writing my own adventure after this one and this fits in perfectly with the overall storyline I was thinking for my own campaign. If nothing else, it’s great inspiration for the types of encounters and quests I can offer my party.
This is my favorite presentation of a side quest module ever tbh.
Please do more of these!
Eliwyn is one of my favourite OCs of yours, i'm happy to see her again
Nice ideas, I'm excited to see more of this series!
For this scenario, it would be pretty funny if the party laid a trap for the necromancer by putting those amputation skills to good use. Sever a corpse's limbs, but then cover the work with clothing so it's not apparent until it tries to stand up. It may not catch the necromancer, but it lures them out without endangering anyone, and it's hilarious (to anyone who didn't know the person anyways).
I love the way the blood spatters on Elliwyn's face progress over time - great continuity!
I'm so excited to introduce Elliwyn in our new campaign. Thanks to this adventure I'll have an excuse to make her a recurring character!
That's a lot of fun; and useful at the same time.
Back when I was more active with D&D side quest were almost unheard of. This is absolutely fantastic!
I like this. Especially that you talked about how to scale it. Dealing with a broad topic like "undead" definitely adds a lot of options.
You could probably do something similar with elementals.
Love the concept. Keep it up!
It is indeed quite interesting. The concept is quite amazing. I think what I love the most is the "setting idea". Characters can be made up, names and monsters too, but just the setting is actually great and it could definitely help in a pinch!
I love this. For some reason, I'm picturing slightly more modern, Trench-style warfare for this adventure, but I bet it would work just as well with a medieval setting.
As a member of a round robin campaign that is 95% sidequests, I am very much looking forward to more videos like this.
for whatever reason, there's a lot of scenarios that I just don't realise I'm able to consider as settings for a quest, and when I see someone that does it's like, holy shit this was an option the whole time? this is that, I love this series already
This side quest is so cool! The tone is palpable! I love how grim and dark it feels without being grading. Your performance adds a lot to the atmosphere! Now I have to find a way to implement this!
I really love this side quest idea! Great use of undead (which there can never be enough of!). I also love the mixing of the horror of war with good old fashioned make-your-skin-crawl horror!
This is perfect! It gives enough details for the core of an adventure, but leaves plenty of room to change things or flesh them out (snicker).
This is exactly the kind of thing that I can use to enhance my campaign.
I have not RP'd in many years but this is very well presented with plenty of detail and is open ended enough to easily fit into most campaigns.
I'm finding the idea of guest stars in D&D campaigns quite intriguing.
"Come on, i'll give you a tour, maybe you'll catch something we missed" * walks into wall *
TOTALLY stealing this! My group will probably travel along a border between two nations at war and they already have a hatred for undead (train them young, folks, nothing like Level 1 undead cackling dryly at your mishaps)!
Feels like a Witcher sidequest, and I mean that as a compliment.
Well done this is a great drop in I could even think it would be a good fit for a ravenloft campaign.
We'd love to hear more of your side quest ideas. So often folks get bogged down in long over-arching campaign ideas with multiple countries or factions, but just some basic (if even difficult) side-quests that have only some or no impact on the major plan are great, and often overlooked.
I love the bucket-of-fake-blood dance...
this is fantastic. I'd thoroughly look forward to seeing the next ones. Not only is it a great side quest on its own, but it helps DMs learn to make their own side quests and mysteries, by essentially following the format.
Been looking for something like this for a while, awesome work!
I liked this. With a week until my group's next session, it's nice to have a little D&D content as a treat. It felt a bit like a bedtime story, which is so nice what with *gestures vaguely at everything* going on right now.
I've sent my DM this video, in case it provides some inspiration - not that he's ever struggled with content, afaik - but could still be useful at some point.
GG, Ginny! Keep em' coming.
I just ran a one-shot that drew heavily from this (added a lengthy opening and tweaked the investigation portion to suit the anarchic nature of the party) and it is very good.
Also was the first session I've ever run as a DM and like 90% of the tips I had gotten from this channel. Thank you for making this content! :)
This works PERFECTLY for my campaign right now! Thank you so much, I never would have thought of it!
This is a really fun idea! I love this kind of content.
This is a fantastic side quest, for a group of players who are between level 3-7. It's just perfect for a game I'll be starting in a few weeks. Literally it's perfect.
Keep up the great work ginny!!! Thanks Ginny.
Probably gonna change a few names, and it's not going to be the nation of lycegea, but other than that it's perfect.
This sounds very fun and well thought out that things are to the point. Very A to B to C, with B being optional.
I was concerned my one-shot was too short, but looking at this it sounds like the perfect amount for a 4-5 hr adventure
I’m going to plug this DIRECTLY into my Grim Hollow campaign.
Well constructed, simple, satisfying, and adaptable. I'd say you have a winner. I really look forward to more Steal My Side quest vids!
“if you have a war going on in your world…”
My world with a colossal war between over 30 nations on it’s horizon, many of which are already starting to fight with each other: “I am 4 parallel universes ahead of you.”
This reminds me of the ongoing burnout among Healthcare professionals amidst resurgence after resurgence of our current health problem. Way to be topical with your art!
Very useful! Additions could be twists on the expected outcome or subplots to “intercept” the party if they go really left field… but I’m not even sure you’d need it. Great stuff!
This is super inspiring! Honestly, most of the people I’d be running a game for also watch your channel, so I can’t use the scenario verbatim, but this video really broadens my perspective about the creative possibilities of side quests. Plus it was really fun to watch! Thank you.
This is very strong content. More please.
I'm a long time DM and honestly I love these more relatable side quests. I am sometimes so focused on the grand arcs and their side quests that these modular quests are a welcomed addition to my arsenal. Thank you! And subscribed! Also love your songs!
I'm running a the untamed (the Chinese series) inspired DnD campaign, and this storyline is pretty perfect to be adaptated into a relevant side quest. Thank you for this series. I'm a relatively new DM and I really want to make my game entertaining and your video in general are very fun and very helpful.
Hope you have a good day 💖
This fits in with my campaign perfectly. My Characters are about to leave a fey wood to find out they have been missing for 6 months. War has broken out and this will be a nice way to introduce them to that War
Loved it! I'm just at the cusp of possibly DMing, your videos are so darn helpful :)
@mjjf26 Do it! Ginny’s videos are what finally pushed me over the edge to learning and starting to DM and I love it so much! My literal only complaint is how hard it is to schedule sessions.
I like the idea and it was great watching how you present it with Elliwyn.
I especially like how you described several other NPCs
This is an amazing concept and project. The details are great, but the versatility is even better. I know others have said the same thing in the comments already, but I'm really looking forward to more of this series. As long as you can give enough details to flesh out each side quest while still leaving room for DMs and GMs to adapt it for their own campaign worlds, they can get a lot of mileage out of each video (with plenty of likes and view for you).
P.S. Including your own cosplay characters into the mix is the icing on the cake. Love it!
I like this because I could just cue up this video to describe the scene and of course use the NPC really effectively
Looking forward to more of these
I love the idea and I'd love to hear about another quest with another NPC.
I was hesistating at first, but in the end I like it.
And the video in itself is great as always :D
This is bloody amazing! It's a really nice mystery and is definitely run-able in one session. I really loved that you included scaling in this video. I occasionally run one-shots with groups that re-use characters from other one-shots or even step out of a campaign once in a while and there tends to be some progression, so I often have to scale around the adventures I run between 3rd and 7th level (if somewhat more rarely above). Really helpful, thanks for sharing^^
This is actually very cool! There are a lot of videos on NPCs to interact with, but not as many on story arcs to do
Such a great idea, Ginny! I'm really into this series idea. Thanks for sharing an adventure with us...I mean, of course, yes, it's *your* adventure, we wouldn't want anything to OMG LOOK OVER THERE!
Good structure for a one session adventure with a solid conclusion and a compelling narrative. Great work.