Secrets of the Mad Mage's Level One
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- Опубліковано 5 вер 2024
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In my last video I drew the first level of Halaster the Mad Mage's level one dungeon, and now I'm going to look at the geography and denizens to see what lessons we can learn in dungeon design practice. As we'll see, the designers are looking to give the central creatures of the dungeon a good purpose for living underground, while filling out the remaining rooms with typical underground creatures and puzzles and magic items.
The structure they use for this level is to identify the two major players on the level, who both control a whole series of rooms, and to give a sense of the wandering monsters the players might run across as the move down the hallways or attempt to take a short or long rest. In terms of these two competing power groups, one is localized, the other has more far-reaching connections. The local group is a gang of bandits called the Undertakers who demand a toll of 10 gp per character to pass, the global is a group of bugbears and goblins who work for Xanathar the beholder, who is a major figure in the Waterdeep world and who has plans for deeper levels and wants to control access to the dungeon, and this includes infiltrating the bandit group.
The Undertakers are described as a group of failed actors who impersonate vampires, complete with costumes and fake teeth. They use this disguise to scare adventuring parties 10 gold pieces per character to pass, and the Undertakers' skill at disguise and acting makes it a DC 14 insight check to see through it.
The competing group of bugbears are controlled by intellect devourers who work for Xanathar the Beholder. Their goal is to capture one of the bandit leaders and have an intellect devourer take their mind so that Xanathar can run the gang as well. The Undertakers are aware of the bugbear/goblin group and will try to convince parties they can't defeat or extort to attack them instead.
What you have with these two groups who dominate such a large part of this first level is a classic tactic used to get past the dungeon conundrum of why things would live unnaturally underground in dank hallways. Both of these groups have good reasons to stay there; obviously goblins are known for living in caves and dungeons but not necessarily bugbears, ettins tend to be solitary creatures, and certainly humans do not prefer living underground. So when you want to populate a dungeon with creatures that wouldn't live there give them a reason to.
I then analyze the dungeon in terms of how players would enter the dungeon, where they might go, and how the NPC's and monsters would react. I go over several scenarios, each based upon potential actions of the players, to demonstrate how this dungeon succeeds and coming up with reasonable outcomes and where I think it falls short. I also discuss some classic dungeon rooms such as a resource drain, puzzle rooms and and area where players might safely take a long or short rest. I also discuss "folly" rooms and dead end corridors and how they give your dungeon a realistic flavor: not every room has to have something!
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Seriously, your videos are criminally underrated, you have helped me alot . Thank you so much.
Glad that I could help Jadon!
Glad that I could help Jadon!
Awesome breakdown, I agree about the secret door - with high-level parties - I can’t imagine it would stay secret very long. My first thought was to have it be a regular door but with a large bolt on the other side that can’t just be picked, thus the party would have to smash it down creating all kinds of noise. Or possibly use up a resource like Misty step. Then when you mentioned the haunted house, I thought, yeah! they could try the door, decide not to use the resource and as they’re walking away they hear a sound of the door being open slowly and creepily.. thanks for the inspiration!
And if the bandits want to make money they have to get people to come by: maybe they'd rather only have access from the other hallway to the southwest and preserve their watch post, but since it would probably be seen anyway, I like your idea of a bolted door: are groups going to break it down and alert whoever is behind there, or simply wander the unobstructed route and get there anyway: they'd see as they were mapping that it links up.
As an old timey D&D guy myself, hobgoblins and bugbears were so interchangeable. Hey, it's not just orcs! lol
We got so tired of running them. That's why they kept coming out with monster manuals!
@@DDHomebrew Say @5:30 , I noticed the text of this room states to "use the 'shadow' statistics, with these changes". But the monster stat block at the back of the book is actually a 'shadow assassin', a much scarier monster than the 'shadow' itself.
@@theGhoulman Good eye!
I'm running this for my players now. I had to modify everything to make it fit with my world, and then bump the difficulty to accommodate 6 players. In my world, there is no Waterdeep, therefore no Yawning Portal. Hallaster is the right hand of my campaign's main antagonist. Since there is no Yawning Portal, I had the characters enter from the SouthWest exit. Hallaster appeared via a scrying eye, and communicated with the group to attempt to get some information. He then blocked the exit, just as the party was told from their elven ally (via sending stone) to GET OUT! This dungeon in my world exists on many planes and has entrances and exits to and from anywhere, including the feywilds. After they exit the dungeon, Hallaster and his dungeon will find them again and again throughout my campaign.
Great stuff here David! The essence of old school D&D was to repurpose modules to fit into our homebrewed worlds, and I think the same principle can apply today. Take what you want, even if it's just the map, or modify the monsters to reflect your players' relative strength. Most importantly, by repurposing you get to tell your own story, one that might be a stand-alone or tie into a longer one.
you condemned the characters to perpetually only exist in dungeon crawls. sooo evil
Thanks. Party just arrived at the yawning portal. Gonna be spicy
Glad I could help!
I agree, the presence of the dopplegangers is a bit strange as written, and the flavor text does little to justify their presence so I rewrote it so the dopplegangers were used by the Undertakers to run a side grift in tandem with their protection racket. They would take the shape of one of the adventurers who paid them for safe passage to level 2, then they would extort ransom money out of associates of the adventurer for the safe return of who they believe to be their compatriate, only to be double crossed later when the doppleganger dropps the ruse and either robs or kills them.
It's always good to come up with a logical explanation for some things that strikes us as unlikely. And giving ge dopegangers a plan does that here.
I'm getting ready to run a dungeon of the mad mage campaign, so these vids have been a real help! Thank you
So glad I could help out.
these are really super helpful to running the dungeon, so awesome! I'm running this for friends and these insights really help. Show me more of the map so I can follow along! :)
love this guy
Is it me or the Mad Mage?
In my campaing the undertakers act much more shadily when they interact with the patrons in the Yawning Portal (they have an agent in there to spy on potential victims and potential threats). The city watch doesnt really care about rumors of vampires untill bloodless corpses start showing up. And UM is generelly consider low security for anyone stupid enough to pay the admission fee of Halasters amuzement park. The watch generelly doesnt care to much about UM, unless it spills into Waterdeep. Which Halaster (for the time being) in my campaign make sure it doesnt.
Edit; But great work, it gives lot of stuff to think about in order to avoid pitfalls - my players are smart and i hate to be the unprepared DM saying: "uhm because "reasons" ?!?"
These are good ways to justify the Undertakers in relation to the overall society of Waterdeep. And it's good practice to think about how something that exists in a module can be justified to sceptical players.
Your insights are wonderful, thank you for making this series!
Thanks Elizabeth! Glad you liked it.
I have searched youtube up and down and not found this.. Luckily it was posted on reddit..
Either i suck at youtube searching, or youtube hates this guy..
Glad you finally found the video! I hope find it useful. And I'll bet you are very good at searching UA-cam, but I am a very small fish in a vast ocean!
Hey Kevin, great video, the secret room filled with skulls, that is awesome! That sends such a clear message without saying a word. Read a little of the Mad Mage but I remember nothing now. Did me asking you about Thouls get you thinking about Hobgoblins, lol.
Off topic: Meant to watch those Temple of the Frog videos again to see where those Thouls are in the adventure. But since I discovered Konflikt 47, I completely forgot. Showed my son the Japanese starter set, he seemed very interested. The starter sets are a $100, comes complete with rule book, 1,250 pts. worth of troops. Which is enough for 2 hours of play. Best part Great Escape Games is set up for D&D and War Gaming.
Thanks Kevin you have a wonderful day!
We forget sometimes that it doesn't have to all be monsters attacking; sometimes you build atmosphere for effect, or just remind that players that someone lives here or runs the place (like Halaster) and they leave after effects. And a hundred bucks isn't bad; can you play them over and over? I don't know anything about the Konflict 47 system, just that it's growing in popularity.
@@DDHomebrew Getting you interested to, lol. You can set up different war scenarios, the scenarios are in the rulebook. You get a few units per side. They have booster packs and endless vehicles to add to your army. Seen today terminator troops for the British army and heavy Italian troops with Roman shields (passing out). It's cross compatible with Bolt Action, they are the makers of Konflikt 47. There is a lot of options with the troops and vehicles. We both could buy the exact same piece but it still could come out differently, different heads, guns, etc. Sorry Kevin long reply 😹, lol.
@@mattnerdy7236 From what I can see the rules are streamlined and reasonable: watched a quick video. Truthfully I don't want to get hooked on another game, but I wouldn't mind running a platoon in an on-going game!
@@DDHomebrew Yea it's deep yet simple enough that anybody can play. The cross compatible it what sold me, if you have a medium mech it counts as a med tank in Bolt Action. I'm like you Kevin, I'm not looking for another game to play, but this is right up my alley. I'm hooked Kevin, sooner or later I have to get a starter set. Plus my son has taken an interest in the game. Great Escape Games has tables and terrain already at there shop, 10 dollars for the whole day plus you get to use there terrain for free. I could talk for hours about this game but I'm sure you have better things to do.
Thanks for listening Kevin, I really appreciate it, you have a wonderful day!
Looked up the definition of Platoon; Three or four squads make up a platoon, which has 20 to 50 soldiers and is commanded by a lieutenant.
So you must be Lieutenant King. It has a nice ring to it. A Platoon would be about 1,250 points, a starter set.
Why not make the two bandit captains Demi-vampires. Their old master was slain before they were fully turned, they can't turn others, but they have convinced the bandits that if they serve faithfully they will be rewarded with the gift of vampirism.
Interesting idea! Creating a good backstory helps make it seem real.
Have you ever thought of doing a video comparing the original Undermountain to DotMM. I am adding some of the original box set into this megaDungeon
It would an interesting project. I'm going to try to finish this series, though it may take me a while!
I have run this level and it has some good and some bad. The Intellect Devourer's are the best part.
I thought you did a video on this, but I looked at your channel and couldn't find it. Did you do one? I'd love to know how those Intellect Devourers played out if your group defeated the bugbears.
@@DDHomebrew I did make a video and have a live stream but it's hard to find my stuff as UA-cam is burying some of it.
@@DDHomebrew ua-cam.com/video/XsSOVQeeRNo/v-deo.html
@@HowtoRPG I just checked it out: I agree that the "fake vampires" is an unsatisfying choice: even if they have a higher DC to fool the players; they might get into more trouble than the scam was worth!
"I hate goblins." -Goblin Slayer
Well said.
Did you not make videos of all of the levels?
I have covered levels one through four.
please put these in a play list
I thought they were: each level has its own.
I can't find the v send video of level 3, or any of level 4
*second for level 3
@@justinboyett8843 On later levels I did less videos. For level 3 I did one on mapping, another on placing objects, then a run down on the level. On level 4 I did a mapping video, one concentrating on the gate system, then a complete run down.
@@DDHomebrew alright, so u see what I wanted for level 3... but I still can't find anything in level 4
As I DM red kobolt and a baby red dragon (with sorcerer kobolts) kill all the undertaker. Now my players have a real chalenge.
Yes they do!
13:30
They are FAILED actors
Then the DC to detect should be low. But, you can make them any sort of skill level you want.