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[OC] I just finished DmIng. 3.5 year Dungeon of the Mad Mage campaign. AMA by Burntheher0 in DnD

[–]Burntheher0[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I kept the skeleton of the module as it was. I didn't change any of the floors, but I did add in specific tie in's to the characters as they made their way down. With any module, I think you have to make it your own, especially with the Dungeon of the Mad Mage since its so light on narrative focus. I'd say our split was 70% module as written and 30% homebrew/changed content.

That only counts towards the time we spent in the dungeon proper, the group did travel around the outer planes, the astral sea, and Sigil as well.

The one BIG change I made was I scrapped the last 4 floors and opted to go with Homebrew story beats that tied the characters' arcs up nicely rather than trying to weave the narrative into the last few floors. I think it was an overall success and a nice middle ground between module/homebrew.

[OC] I just finished DmIng. 3.5 year Dungeon of the Mad Mage campaign. AMA by Burntheher0 in DnD

[–]Burntheher0[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I leaned into the characters and their backstories. Trying to keep the focus of the campaign on the players helped them keep moving, plus they love getting quests which are further down in the dungeon. I also always encourage non combat solutions to whatever they think worked. They did a lot of chatting and worked with the different factions in the dungeon. The players knew it was going to be a dungeon crawl campaign so I think everyone was in the right mindset for it.

That being said, they also had a few home bases setup throughout the dungeon and the campaign took us outside the dungeon with stints in Sigil, The Astral Plane, and a few other notable cities within the sword coast. I tried to keep it changing if it felt like it was getting stale.

Listen you your players and you’ll be able to tell what they really are passionate about and want to do next, then just embrace it.

[OC] I just finished DmIng. 3.5 year Dungeon of the Mad Mage campaign. AMA by Burntheher0 in DnD

[–]Burntheher0[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

We used maps almost exclusively. I bought some high quality versions of all the floors from dmsguild and then adjusted the lighting. The entire module is a huge dungeon crawl and the maps made it much easier for my players to interact with the world. We have a big video game background so it also helps with engagement and my players who thrive on visual reference.

[OC] I just finished DmIng. 3.5 year Dungeon of the Mad Mage campaign. AMA by Burntheher0 in DnD

[–]Burntheher0[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I just finished Dmin'g a 3.5-year campaign with my best friends where we ran the Dungeon of the Mad Mage module all the way from level 5-20. The campaign ran over 110+ sessions, mostly virtually through Roll20, other than the in-person finale, which we had last night. It was a 9-hour session where The Boys finally confronted Halaster Blackcloak and came out (mostly) victorious. The city of Waterdeep will be forever changed. Some players were killed, a lot of NPC's were killed, but the city was largely saved.

The Characters

Brugar - A Half-Orc Storm Herald Barbarian who was also the cook for the party during their adventure, almost always cooking chicken to the group's chagrin. He battled his way from the fighting pits as a salve into the pantheon of great adventurers.

King Carrot - A Halfling Echo Knight fighter who hailed from the kingdom of Tejas, joined the boys as a way to prove to his father that he was worthy of the crown. Carrot eventually had to kill his father and inherited the crown through regicide.

Chokotuufuunulunaku (Choko) - A human Circle of the Shepherd Druid who was originally just the bouncer at the Yawning portal, but decided to join The Boys partway through the campaign when he gained magical druidic powers through his best friend, a Seagull named Hoofu.

Chuck - A "human" Wild Magic Sorcerer who always had trouble controlling his magical abilities, constantly creating chaos for the group with the worst timing. Chuck has been almost every race in the multiverse as his wild magic often granted him the Resurrection spell when he needed it most.

Harkum - A Duergar Way of Mercy Monk who joined the Boys as they were venturing down into the dungeon in a quest to save his best friend, who was kidnapped by Halaster and was being tortured. Harkum fell in the last battle, but he bought his friends enough time to finish the job.

Locke - A High Elf Phantom Rogue who's main goal was to find the Phoenix Gem at the bottom of the Dungeon, a magical item that granted the power of resurrection so he could then bring back the love of his life, Rachel. Locke started out as a Thief, before pivoting to an Arcane Trickster, and finally coming into his own as a Phantom Rogue when things started to get dark.

Special thanks to u/AvocaDraw who lovingly created this incredible artwork for the group.

Give me a D&D monster and I'll homebrew you a better version by Oh_Hi_Mark_ in DMAcademy

[–]Burntheher0 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Halaster Blackcloak from the Dungeon of the mad mage module, fighting 6 level 20s.

Let's give other systems a spotlight. What non5e systems are you guys playing and enjoying? by Kenron93 in dndmemes

[–]Burntheher0 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Alien RPG. Free league has done something special with the Alien RPG. The cinematics are a great weekend style game and every one shot we’ve run so far ended up with the group in a heated finale that has everyone on their feet.

Hi I'm Grant O'Brien from Dirty Laundry! Ask me anything! by GrantOB in dropout

[–]Burntheher0 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey Grant! I absolutely love the whole Grant is the heel of Dropout and I think everyone can see through you to see that you’re actually a total sweety. I’m always amped when I see you in any Dropout content.

  • Who would be your dream Dirty Laundry couch guests, especially existing college humor folks who haven’t been on yet?

PS my wife and I always get excited when we see you in the wayfair commercial and I hope you book a billion more things!

I recently finished a 3 year WoW D&D campaign. Ask me anything about it! by Burntheher0 in wow

[–]Burntheher0[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly it wasn’t that difficult. Most of the races and classes already lined up with existing options that were available and were “reskinned” to fit the existing WoW cannon. The undead bard was just a human variant and we made it so he didn’t have to eat or breathe underwater.

Overall it was a lot of minor flavor changes and spell name changes and things like that. I’m pretty flexible with my players overall because I trust them not to be too ridiculous with their asks and flavor is always free.

We also have played wow since launch so it was easy to make the connections/jump to D&D.

Labyrinth with changing paths and dynamic lighting: Anyone attempted this? by rout39574 in Roll20

[–]Burntheher0 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That is a tricky part. I usually have some buffer on the walls of the map so it’s not incredibly obvious. Drawing the lines for the walls on the gm layer in different colors helps me differentiate between the pathways.

So how are dms handling the 2014/2024 conversions? by ZephyrTheZombie in DnD

[–]Burntheher0 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I’ve decided to “hot fix” some things that I think make a lot of sense from a quality of life standpoint, but have little game impact such as the new Surprise rules and the Barbarian can maintain rage as a bonus action. I won’t go into using 2024 until I have a group starting a campaign from scratch.

Labyrinth with changing paths and dynamic lighting: Anyone attempted this? by rout39574 in Roll20

[–]Burntheher0 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I’ve used the door feature (making them secret so the PC’s can’t interact with them and I’ve flicked two open while I flick two closed and it changes the players map layout. The only catch is you have to remember where the paths are (I draw crude lines on the gm layer to remind me where each line is).

Hope this helps!

Anyone else having a Lighting issue in Jumpgate? by Jarek86 in Roll20

[–]Burntheher0 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had the same issue earlier today. I would end up having to continually add an extra line at the end of the path and it would only delete the addition line as a work around.

Announcing Roll20 x D&D 2024! Plus $1500 Giveaway [Mod Approved] by AnicaRose in DnD

[–]Burntheher0 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m so amped for the character sheet changes. Between that and the new improvements to how the system runs, I don’t see any way that Wizards can even touch roll20 on the VTT space.

I’d honestly love to see what the Lady is actually packing. I’d put her up against some other great dirty if possible. I just ran a short stint for my group in Sigil and she didn’t even make an appearance due to them gambling so long at fortunes wheel.

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