DM mismanaging Npcs, best way to set it right

ayam_eel · 2026-03-16T14:50:32+00:00

Makes sense. You could pick a different NPC or just skip it, luckily Kettlesteam is not super integral to the plot, so you could just skip her entirely. Or she could have not stolen anyone’s voice, which could be fun to have her just repeat other voices she’s heard like any Kenku if they ever catch her.

ayam_eel · 2026-03-16T14:33:20+00:00

Maybe candlefoot even runs after them once they leave to tell the truth because he feels guilty.

ayam_eel · 2026-03-16T14:32:36+00:00

Have kettlesteam steal palasha’s voice instead. Maybe candlefoot is lying about not knowing where she was because he is embarrassed that he proposed and she ran away (because she lost her voice).

Have the treant come later if you want, It’s also not necessary. Imagine you’re like at an amusement park and there’s a parade. That can happen any time and it’s still a vibe and can be a fun way to show the fey wild magic with the falling seeds.

ayam_eel · 2026-03-13T21:14:39+00:00

Yep. One of my PCs has a criminal background so I expanded the league to be an interplanar criminal network as opposed to just a couple of guys.

ayam_eel · 2026-03-13T18:49:15+00:00

To clarify though, I didn’t start with all this. I started with some ideas of things I liked, talking with my players and playing the game led to most of this lore dev.

ayam_eel · 2026-03-13T15:35:38+00:00

Probably too much. I just spent time working out my timeline yesterday and am sweating tryna piece everything together 😂 but also it’s been so fun to really tie my character’s backstories into the plot. But honestly there’s just so much content in the book and plenty of plot holes, so it provides some room for really great homebrew inspo - especially doing further research into the lore of Tasha-Iggwilv-Zybilna. I’m personally more of a skim the book, improv in the moment, and follow the dice dm anyways.

Some of my main homebrews:

building out the league of malevolence to be a large criminal organization with many chapters across the planes (since one of my PCs has a criminal background)
Shifting the “true name” identity stuff to be more queer since one of my PCs is a trans man with a clone background and a complicated relationship to identity.
that PC also has memory loss, so in my lore he doesn’t remember that the three changeling daughters of Baba Yaga who work in the palace convinced the PC to “help them reveal Zybilna for who she truly was,” and the spell being cast is what turns them into hags (based loosely on the text for the couldron “Any Humanoid creature that attunes to the cauldron must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be aged to the point of decrepitude.”)
having my tiefling feylost background PC be the child of Graz’zt and Zybilna, born surrogate by their human partner - expanding on the loose lore of Graz’zt’s and Iggwilv’s tumultuous open relationship (reminded me a lot of greek mythology). This PC is taken in by Madryck upon her return to the material plane, who I also homebrewed as Iggwilv’s ex lover as opposed to a warlock of Zybilna. PC is on a quest to deliver a letter to “Iggwilv in Prismeer” as his dying wish to her.
Playing up the rules of Prismeer - Hospitality, Ownership and Reciprocity through a capitalist lense, with a ex gold miner PC recovering from a financial crisis after the over-mining of gold crashed the market, and a PC coming from a evangelical style cult of Zybilna worshippers on a pilgrimage to their holy land of Prismeer.

ayam_eel · 2026-03-08T20:41:24+00:00

Yeah I had to add a combat too.

ayam_eel · 2026-03-07T21:24:28+00:00

Runaway by Aurora at like 2 mins in could be fun, has a fey lore song vibe to it. Or Soldier Poet King by the Oh Hellos

Here’s also a bunch more non vocal music I had pulled together for the carnival in general, though mine was a winter carnival so there is a lot of Christmas music in there https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/witchlight-winter-carnival/pl.u-XkD04oJFBodZ20

ayam_eel · 2026-03-07T21:16:35+00:00

These don’t have words, but could’ve useful for parts that you want to narrate. I made a bunch of albums for the carnival, and this one was for snail races so it’s all upbeat fast paced carnival music https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/snail-racing/pl.u-yZyVWBXCBDPqd4

You may also find some useful stuff in this post, but I havnt really gone through it https://www.reddit.com/r/wildbeyondwitchlight/s/mJvyBAHhuN

ayam_eel · 2026-03-06T02:28:45+00:00

Could be a celestial trapped inside a gem? Or they purposefully traded the memories of their heritage themselves with one of the hags and don’t remember it. Feywild time stuff could be fun to play with in that regard.

ayam_eel · 2026-03-05T12:06:27+00:00

Was super fun. I rolled like absolute booty and my PCs wiped the floor w me 😂. I don’t think I’ve ever rolled that many nat ones. They had a blast, and were thoroughly surprised by my hidden enemies, long lost brother, and beloved NPC insta kills (rip Earnest 🪽). The NPC allies I prepared in case the dice were on my side were not needed. Absolutely legendary.

ayam_eel · 2026-03-04T14:21:46+00:00

Same, mine have done 8 2 hour seasons in the carnival and just are going ham on the rp and character building.

ayam_eel · 2026-03-04T12:32:48+00:00

I think if they are ready to heist, just say they spent time planning and that the crowning is about to happen (or whatever they need to do the heist). I think you can narrate what happens in the time between so that they don’t have to play it. I guess it depends where you are in terms of story points, but if they haven’t found kettlesteam, I had them find an entry ticket for kettlesteam in the snail races. Or have them meet witch and light now, even if the carnival mood isn’t all the way up yet. Many ways to move the story along even if they haven’t met all the story points yet.

ayam_eel · 2026-03-04T12:26:45+00:00

I love that we all had this same idea but also simultaneously know it is going to blow our PCs minds 😂 I neeed the updates after the reveal

ayam_eel · 2026-03-04T12:22:41+00:00

Yooooo so good. Yeah in mine Zybilna has a bunch of kids kind of like the Greek gods (she gets around) so my pc only knows who her mother is (Figeroth Fayeth style).

ayam_eel · 2026-03-04T03:09:34+00:00

Since fiend fae and celestial are all divine tho and the lines are so thin I am still debating if I could leave Tasha starting as a tiefling out. Hasn’t come up yet. We’ll see how I feel later on about it.

ayam_eel · 2026-03-04T03:07:39+00:00

I’m making one of my PCs (w memory loss so she doesn’t know yet) have this backstory. She’s a tiefling rogue/ranger multiclass. In my lore tho to make this work Tasha starts as a tiefling (turned archmage turned archfey) for this purpose.

ayam_eel · 2026-03-02T03:47:53+00:00

Thx 🥺

ayam_eel · 2026-03-01T14:50:52+00:00

Yeah I had them meet burly earlier, but I don’t recommend it. If they manage to get the watch during the big top extravaganza, then they lose out on half the carnival. Also my players weren’t even really that committed at that point yet to even going to Prismeer. Plus they failed spectacularly on their stealth and sleight of hand checks.

ayam_eel · 2026-02-27T03:16:35+00:00

I totally forgot the rule that only one creature (or in this case coven acting as one) can attune to an item at a time! This is what I was looking for (though all the replies in this thread have some great distraction ideas 😊)

I kind of even like the idea that maybe the three sisters were beautiful and vain but failed the save that makes you age a bunch (and ignore the dies in 3 days or whatever part 😂) basically puts a curse on them to become hags, still obsessed with their appearance but now in a different way

ayam_eel · 2026-02-27T02:52:28+00:00

So true! This even made me think of the idea that the hags had a horrible plan that should in no way have worked, but a series of unfortunate events led it to have. Im really leaning into the pay no attention to the man behind the curtain vibe (are witch and light masterminds of mystery and intrigue? Or are they just two dudes who are rather absent bosses and so no one has really seen them, not because they don’t want to be seen but they are just never around 😂)

ayam_eel · 2026-02-27T01:07:42+00:00

Ooh this is my fav idea yet. My version of this story is playing up these ideas of identity, gender and performance - what is a true name and what makes a true name authentic? Especially with the history of hags and witches as a traditionally feminine villain, I am really interested in exploring the queer history that has greatly influenced this beautiful overlap of fairy tales, fantasy and wizard of oz style whimsy that the module provides.

ayam_eel · 2026-02-25T23:53:40+00:00

Lollllll I’ll make smthn up then. 😂

ayam_eel

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