I'm a DM running Dragon Heist, which will be "merged" into storm king 's thunder once my players get through the last bits. Your channel and videos have been giving me lots of useful information as I begin to study this campaign. Your videos are a godsent to DMs, they are short in comparisson to everyone elses long format videos, yet they go straight to the important parts. You comment on both the story, RP elements, as well as challenges, encounters, and flow of the adventure. This is exactly what both new and experienced DMs want to now before the begin to write their notes. Thanks a lot!

@ConeofCool

3 жыл бұрын

Always glad to help! The giant lairs are stumping me for solid content but I will have a new video in the near future!

@nieczynzla

Жыл бұрын

Im a first time DM and your videos are super useful. Short with a lot of informations and realy good suggestions. I love your channel.

I'm just glad your advice isn't "Ignore 60% of the module and lead your players by the nose towards the plot" like some other series here in KZread.

@InfamousGeff

2 жыл бұрын

Honestly some of the most fun in the campaign is piecing together small bits of lore that the DM can sprinkle in during chapter 3. The chapter that gets all the complaints about being too open. I hate that so many people rush through chapter 3. You can really developed characters in that chapter and show just how devastating giants can be

@hamwise881

2 жыл бұрын

@@InfamousGeff chapter 3 is full of dead ends and red herrings. A fundamental rule of adventure design is, don't put things in that players don't need for the plot. 90 percent of chapter 3 is irrelevant to the plot, with side quests that go nowhere. It is confusing and players get lost. Then wotc's solution is to deus ex machina them out of the aimless side quests by dropping an exposition NPC that fights at half strength. Everything about chapter 3 is stupid.

@InfamousGeff

2 жыл бұрын

@@hamwise881 chapter 3 is what you make it. If you run it as written, sure there are several quests that lead no where, but if you use chapter 3 to explore character backstories and sprinkle in lore and foreshadowing at good intervals then it becomes an amazing chapter. I assume the Deus ex Machina that you are referring to is the characters bumping into Harshnag. If that is so, the best way to deal with that is to not have it be random. Have the players seek Harshnag out on their own through NPCs in earlier chapters mention him. What I did was the earlier mentions of Harshnag by NPCs like Zephyros, and in chapter three when the players got to Neverwinter, they discovered a bounty out on a Frost Giant who was said to be roaming the area. Gave it descriptions that matched Harshnag and a large sum of the bounty and the players took the bait and went looking for him. Also, at the start of chapter three, you want to give players a goal to work toward so they don't get lost. A good one is directing them to Everlund early on to get access to the teleportation circles. That is something they can work toward and go after it at whatever speed they want, but they always have that goal in mind. Chapter three is great to introduce what the other giants types, that the characters haven't dealt with yet, are up to in the world and to show the devastation that even small groups of giants can have on the area. If done correctly chapter 3 showcases what is at stake if the giant problem isn't dealt with. Sure the chapter takes the most legwork by the DM, but at the end it tends to be worth it. Plus, I think it is greatly exaggerated how much extra work chapter 3 takes. Just adjusting some stuff here and there and adding character backstory stuff didn't really feel like anything more than what is typically expected of a DM. All this being said, chapter 3 is consistently holds many of my players' favorite moments from the campaign. At the end of the day, chapter 3 is what you make of it.

@hamwise881

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah, my players went to Golden fields and picked up the npc quests there, all of which are dead ends. They just got confused that nothing they were doing had anything to with the plot. I had to rewrite the whole adventure to pull together their pointless quests into something that tied into the main plot.

@hamwise881

2 жыл бұрын

@@InfamousGeff I also ditched Harshnagg because the idea of a companion npc fighting at half strength is just lame. Sure, having a giant companion sounds cool, but as written, it just doesn't make much sense. I substituted a "giant killer" npc with a much less impressive stat block, and equipped him with a one-shot magic item to beef him up for Iymrith. Keeping Harshnagg as an NPC can work, but still, you would have to basically ignore most of the things the book tells you about how to play him and introduce him. In the book, he just shows up out of nowhere, with no explanation. I did try to tease him, but the players were afraid of him and it was becoming difficult to concoct a scenario where the players would not run away or attack him. So I said screw it, there's just a bad guy frost giant and I substituted a dwarf barbarian npc instead. It was no less work than adjusting Harshnagg's stats, and way more believable than just having a frost giant pulling punches in fights. The point of all of this is that chapter 3 is a heaping pile of nonsensical garbage, and was clearly not edited for clarity or playtested at all.

These videos are invaluable to my current planning of STK, thank you!

@ConeofCool

3 жыл бұрын

Glad to be of help!

Hey man, loving all the videos you’ve made for Stormking’s Thunder as they have given me motivation to try and run it again. They have also been super helpful in explaining the chapters. Can’t wait to see the next video!

Thanks for this series, my group is about to pick back up on my campaign (running SKT) and this is going to be a great resource!

@ConeofCool

Жыл бұрын

Good luck!! Don’t hesitate to reach out on the discord if you have any questions - lots of friendly people there who like to help other than myself too.

Fantasic Video as always!

@ConeofCool

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you! Hope your campaign is going well

@mrshotsmith

3 жыл бұрын

​@@ConeofCool ​Alas I have not restarted yet since the new year. Partly due to a new job and time constraints, and partly because of a lack of preparation. The group is still eager to play, we just got to the end of goldenfields main quest. Had some of the other players run some one shots in the meantime. I do find reading very difficult due to dyslexia, so reading a whole book in one go is a mountain of effort for me. (thanks again for making these videos) The previous chapter is still a large nebulous blob of content that needs a lot of time to sort. Been planning to watch a bunch of general sword coast videos while painting minis when I find the time for it. Your previous video was a massive help though, just need to fill in the details and prep for many small side quests at each settlement. I hope you get the recognition that you deserve for this quality content.

@ConeofCool

3 жыл бұрын

​@@mrshotsmith Chapter three can be really overwhelming, I felt the same way when I first ran the adventure. It really is just a big pool of content and you have to find the stuff you want to run. Something I try to keep in mind with this adventure: Storm King's Thunder isn't really about the details of all the settlements and the layout of every tavern, it is an adventure with high stakes with large moving parts that rise above the knowledge of common folk! Just keep in mind these details the book fails to mention are that way because they don't matter very much. If you spent all the time needed to make every location completely come to life then the campaign would never end! I would focus on the stories and encounters the book is trying to encourage you to have, leave the details to the wind. But also, every roleplay group is different, so just try to have fun and I'm sure your players will too!

Great video! I'm currently running chapter 3; I'm excited for them to eventually meet Harshnag and get chapter 4 going.

@ConeofCool

3 жыл бұрын

Harshnag could be the best part of the adventure!

Hello there, it's the first time i'm DMing an Official Adventure. I chose to start my party in lvl 3, they are all friends from Phandalin who grew together listening to the tales of old heroes from Faerun and all that they achieved, so my party has one goal, leave Phandalin to become new heroes of the Forgotten Relms. In the first session i started our adventure with the tale of a small Halfling who lost his friend Luca (a squirrel) in the Kryptgarden Forest. The Party helped this Halfling in a very easy series of nature and survival checks. The Halfling with a giant smile says to the party: Thank you so very much, i will never forget this, i owe you guys one. And he leaves...This Halfling is actually Felgolos, and for the fun i gave him a jargon_ He always says wololo... So, the actual adventure begins in a birthday party at Phandalin, then they go to Triboar (where i presented the 6 npc's as really cool persons who helped my adventurers in simple ways...), after some roleplay they accept to go to Nightstone with a friend from Triboar. Long story short, the party fights against the Zentharins (who i changed to Xanathar's thieves (bcause one of my players is Zenth)) but i made this encounter way harder. So my party is dying and all the players are nervous and desperate and then a bronze dragon appears between my players and the enemies, on top of his head a squirrel! The Dragon turns his head to my party and says: - WOLOLO... My players go crazy as Felgolos helps them... I made Felgolos a close friend to Zephyr. Felgolos will tell to the party that not all giants are bad. During the quest to save the nightstone people from the Driping Caves, Felgolos will call Zephyr. And when our adventurers return to Nightstone Zephyr will be there. Zephyr tell's my party that Felgolos flew to find Sansuri castle in a diplomatic mission to find what happened. (Spoiler = Felgolos will be capturated by Sansuri) During the flight to Triboar Iymrith will appear for the first time and will destroy the Navigation Orb, the tower will fall but my players will be carried to the ground by Zephyros Griffons. From this point on i hope to narrate the adventure by the book, with the attack on Triboar and everything else... Sorry for my bad english, i'm from Brazil, i really love your videos. You and many other channel's are helping me SO much with this game, and so far my players are loving it. Keep the marvelous work. (About my party= Human Grave Cleric, Dwarf Bar-bear-ian Druid, High Elf Evocation Wizard, Wood Elf Assassin Rogue & a Half-elf Fiend Warlock (Pale night pact))

@ConeofCool

2 жыл бұрын

Sounds like you have a plan and are building the characters in the book up even more! Very cool. Maybe since someone in your party is a Zhent they could have an interesting dilemma with the Fire Giants, since they are forming somewhat of an alliance with them.

@michaelnelson2976

2 жыл бұрын

My goodness, this is a wonderful introduction to the story and excellent hooks to get the plot going and narratively interesting for your players! They are in good hands!

Love these videos would love to see a similar thing for rise of tiamt

@ConeofCool

3 жыл бұрын

I have never run Tyranny of Dragons! I have always wanted to, so perhaps in the future that could be a reality!

English isn't my mother language but damn that last description of the scene! I'm moved!

@ConeofCool

2 жыл бұрын

much appreciated!!

Fantastic series so far! Finishing up LMOP this week then heading straight into SKT. What tips do you have for integrating that story to SKT? I want the Forge of Spells to tie into this story at least a little bit. Any tips for current NPC's that would be interested in this Forge?

@ConeofCool

3 жыл бұрын

I am a big fan of LMOP, and that is a perfect segway into SKT! I recommend Triboar due to its close proximity to Phandalin for chapter two. An easy hook is to have Sildar task the players to investigate Triboar due to the rise in giant sightings near that region. If you want to involve the forge of spells, perhaps Iymrith required the use of it before putting her plans into action? It could become attacked by the Kraken society and used to create a conch of teleportation, or possibly be the source of her spellcasting abilities, or her ability to change shape. It would be difficult to connect the forge to the story beyond being a conduit for some sort of spell or item used by the villains, as you don't want the players to be able to use the forge to reverse or impact the story further than that hook. One option is to simply have the forge become attacked while the players are absent for the chapter two quest. Perhaps they return and cloud giants who originally attacked Nightstone are now seeking the forge of spells, and somehow transport the entire thing onto their cloud castle. Maybe Sansuri needs it to assist her in locating the trove of dragonic magic, or maybe Duke Zalto needs the powers of the forge to reawaken the Vonindod. Another option is to forget about Triboar entirely, and have the fire giants attack Phandalin instead! The fragments of the Vonindod could easily be located there instead, and that would certainly motivate the players. The NPCs in town can give the quests out afterwards. Unfortunately, this doesn't really relate to the forge of spells. If I think of a better connection I will let you know! Good Luck!

@MrZrbrownie

3 жыл бұрын

This might be a bit late, but I'm planning on the Black Spider working for Duke Zalto and he's using the forge to try to help reconstruct fragments of Vodinod.

@ByFee

3 жыл бұрын

@@MrZrbrownie I just revealed that last session actually!

What is a denzien?

@ConeofCool

2 жыл бұрын

Denizen is what I meant.

*Only bad DM run the giant relics.

@ConeofCool

Жыл бұрын

Both of my parties loved the simplicity and rewards of the encounters. They visited every single spirit mound even after I insisted only one was required. If you give the party a map and tell them there are relics located at each site, they get excited to start graverobbing. While the rest of the adventure is more attractive from the DMs perspective, this was definitely a highlight for my players. SKT is also made to be a wilderness adventure, not a city based campaign at all. The relationship with the barbarians and the giants is related to the story and certainly adds to the campaign. No need to reinvent the wheel when the book gives you all the tools you need.