Let's make TEPEST in 5e!
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- Опубліковано 23 сер 2024
- Fire burn and cauldron bubble! Today we're covering TEPEST, the Ravenloft Domain of Dread inspired by dark fairy tales and folk horror, which is rife with witches, redcaps, trolls, and other ill fey creatures. As usual, we'll review a couple bits of relevant media for inspiration, before sketching out an adventure!
N.B. in my discussion, the terms "witch" and "hag" are intended to refer to the fictional monsters from folklore as well as the Monster Manual and associated materials from Dungeons and Dragons. It is not a commentary about contemporary religious traditions, nor is it intended to inform anyone about witchcraft as a contemporary expression of religion or spirituality.
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How is this free content? So well written and very evocative of old fairy tales! I love this way to much, amaizng adventure
Thank you so much! I'm just starting my channel, here, but full of ideas for adventures. Keep an eye out for future videos, and please feel free to suggest topics or settings for the future! Cheers!
I'm excited to say that I'll be starting a modified version to this mini-campaign!
I had already started them off in Tepest, as a way to transition to the CoS campaign without running the Death House. They came into Tepest n@ked and afraid, locked in a dirt basement with some gross 'rebirth' themes, but they were welcomed into Viktal with open arms as their esteemed guests. All this was on the eve of the Tithe ceremony.
They, entirely paranoid, spent the first day and night avoiding just about everyone and everything and had their first combat against some abberant moths that were drawn to the light they had lit inside their temporary house.
The next day they had the festival, letting down their guard, and eventually they faced Laoirse, killing her in front of the whole village. There was a chase scene ending in a major confrontation with a trio of Mother's Minders, then Mother herself. By sheer luck they were able to defeat Mother, but the Gurgyl took revenge and knocked them all unconscious, throwing them all inside, and placing Lorinda into her cauldron to be reborn/revived.
Now they're all stuffed into one of the Gurgyl's legs, and the next chapter will start with your opening segment.
I want to thank you again for the excellent content, and I'll update with how they do, if anyone's interested in hearing their story :)
I know how to light that fire under the party's arse now, since I can't use your idea of having them be too old. Mother will be working to bring a new Laoirse to life, and when she's done with the process she'll have her daughter eat *everyone*, not just the original one she was going to take as tribute.
I would love to hear how this goes! And thank you so much for watching and commenting! It sounds like you're primed for some excellent story-telling! Cheers!
I wanted to let you know that one of the npcs in my current Borca campaign is entirely based this adventure. Thanks for the huge inspiration!
Ah, that's awesome to hear! I'd love to hear about the adventure; Borca is a fascinating Domain of Dread. Best wishes, and cheers!
I feel like I'm getting in on the ground floor of the next big DnD channel.
This is top tier content, and I'll be sharing this with my discord communities. Thank you for such amazing videos and I can't wait to see where you take your channel next!
Thanks you so much! I hope you’re right! 🤞 Please feel free to recommend topics you’d like me to cover. Many thanks and welcome to the channel! Cheers! 😁
Another awesome video! The only thing I would maybe include is having the witch searching for the children while the escape in the woods. Having a giant walking house tree tracking you would be terrifying.
Oh, that's a good idea, too! Perhaps the Gurgyl could chase the PCs through the woods, and then, just when the PCs think they've escaped it and made it to Viktal, the Gurgyl shows up again? I can see how a chase scene through the woods could be scary and fun. Great idea! Thanks for the suggestion and for watching! Cheers!
I loved the idea of this video and decided to run a mini campaign using this. We have played 3 sessions now and it is going really well. I did add a modified piece at the beginning to encourage the PCs to go into the library initially. I used the Nox Libris cult from Loresmyth's Remarkable Cults and Their Followers (Which I highly recommend) and had two members approach one of the PCs hunting for Fester's food in the nearby woods. They asked him to gather the book from the library and return it to him. Before they did this though they stumbled upon the spell and have begun collecting ingredients.
I also did not tell them what happens at 21, but I added a nursery to the bottom of one foot which holds dolls and toys from dozens of previous "children" of Mother. They also know she is preparing for a huge festival where they will be honored and that none of the toys or children who came before them are ever discussed again. At first one of the PCs wanted to stay with mother, so I had her bring a small child back from her first outing and now they have to save her too!
Really loving this content and may take them to the Maligno adventure to follow up!
Oh, those are *excellent* updates to the adventure. Good ideas, all! I especially love the idea of the PCs finding evidence of past servants (kind of like the bones being discovered in Guardians of the Galaxy 2), and the addition of Loresmyth's book is a cool idea as well!
Thanks very much for watching, and for posting back about how your implementation is going at the table! I'm excited to hear how the adventure ends, and also how the larger campaign proceeds beyond! Best wishes, and cheers!
There's only one appropriate thing to add to the Tithe Festival: BEES!
No! No! Not the bees! 🐝😂
When this video started I thought an adventure set in Tepest couldn’t be that scary but I have been pleasantly surprised! The start of the adventure, being slaves to a terrible hag and knowing your death is coming, something about that is so dark. That sets such a tone for the adventure. Great stuff!
Yes, the original computer game that inspired this adventure, King's Quest III, was criticized upon its initial release for being so thematically dark! It makes for a perfect Ravenloft adventure, I think. 😁
I'm so glad you enjoyed the video! If you ever run this adventure or run something based on it, feel free to leave feedback! In the meantime, thanks again for watching and cheers!
THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR! I wonder if I could use your idea of a doomed NPC from your Har’Akir adventure by having another one of Lorinda’s servants briefing the PCs on the escape plan before turning 21 and being dragged away by Lorinda as she goes out. It could later be revealed that the NPC servant’s soul was used to make the creature to whom the villagers intend on sacrificing the party, and now the PCs have to fight against what remains of their friend. This would help the players if they get stuck on finding potion ingredients and need a hint, as well as make them despise Lorinda even more once they find out what happened.
Also, if Lorinda’s permanently a cat now, this provides an opportunity for one of her sisters trapped in the cauldron to emerge and take over as the Mother and Darklord of Tepest. Maybe this one’s just as evil and serves as the next BBEG, but maybe she could be grateful to the PCs for her freedom and reward them somehow (maybe a magic item or enough gold to get the party some level-appropriate gear).
Yay! I'm so glad this video was useful! It's what I aim to do: provide fun adventure ideas. 😁
It's true, especially with Ravenloft adventures: a friendly "red shirt" NPC who gets killed off is a useful way to convey lessons to the PCs. And I *love* the idea of Lorinda's sisters replacing her! Great ideas!
Thanks for watching and for the feedback! Cheers!
If anyone is looking for a map of the Gurgyl, there's a map of a Warforged Colossus in Eberron Rising from the Last War, that could be used as the basis (would need some modification though, adding the rooms described here).
Ahhhhh! This is an *AWESOME* idea! Thanks so very much! I was thinking "huh, maybe the Giant of Babil from Final Fantasy IV? No, that's too big..." This suggestion nailed it! Thank you so much! Cheers!
This is wonderful! I've only watched a bit and I already really enjoy it and plan to come back to it once I'm no longer at work! I'm working on some worldbuilding where the Shadowfell, being a mirror of the Feywild, is the Feywild's interpretation of Grief, which is why it is so stagnant and stuck despite being so tied to the world of the Fey. With that being the case, there's an area where they bleed into each other known as the Feydark, which has Domains of Desire (rather than Dread or Delight) and has Mountebanks (rather than Darklords or Archfey.) In my research I've fallen in love with Tepest as a potential Feydark Domain and have been looking for ideas on what kind of plots might be afoot there, and this is great! I think this is such a good way to transition players from the Feywild to the Feydark, and then eventually into the Shadowfell through the woods! I appreciate your insight!
I really enjoy your way of making adventures. I'll be watching all your videos!
Thank you so very much! Please let me know how these campaign ideas go, if you implement any of them! Cheers!
Wonderful suggestions. One problem is they would literally have no gear per say. Venturing out into wilds with like a silver dagger is certain deaths. Perhaps kind of an out of abyss adoption. They were kidnapped and lost their memories around the age of sacrifice to fuel her ritual. So they have gear in her lair.
Ah yes, this is a good point, and also a good proposal for addressing it!
Yes, one way to ensure the PCs have equipment is to let there be a store of goods, which Lorinda has accumulated over the years. Perhaps it's in the pantry? Perhaps it's in the Gurgyl's other leg? This stash could contain some original goods of theirs, as you suggest, or it could just contain a random assortment of things that adventurers had before Lorinda ate them!
Great stuff. Thanks very much for the feedback and for the suggestion! Cheers!
I stumbled upon this channel today and think its amazing and the fact you're doing vids on what I'd assume to be the Domains of Dread, I hope to see more because this vid really helps with making an adventure in Tepest and plz do more I'm a sucker for Ravenloft and want to see how you'd weave an adventure for each of these amazing settings :) also my first thought to this domain is definitely Midsommar.
Thank you so much for watching and for your glowing praise! I, too, am a sucker for Ravenloft! Tepest is a favorite of mine, too! What’s another favorite of yours? Cheers!
@@phdnd-drbowers Ooh that is a tricky one 🤔 I guess my favourite domain is Barovia, might be influenced by my love of Castlevania lol XD and a very close 2nd is I'Cath (could have cultural inspiration with the Mr. Vampire movies and Nightmare on Elm Street) or Valachan (perhaps some inspiration from Predator and the old movie Cat People) or Dementlieu (Cluedo movie perhaps or Among Us?) but I pretty much like all of them arguably hence why I'd love to see more domain vids by you and you even make the less touched upon domains like Cyre1313 more expanded. Sorry if that comment is long winded and I would say The Carnival is another one but knowing me, I'd probably swap that domain out with the setting Heckna perhaps but both are good in their own rights of a horror circus/carnival domain imo.
@@finnmchugh99 I'Cath is on the way! (We agree, too, that Wes Craven's "Elm Street" movies are an excellent source of inspiration on writing an adventure there!) I'm also a *huge* fan of Carnival and have a lot of ideas about it, so you may see two of these very soon! Dementliu is also great, and I love what they did in the most recent incarnation of Ravenloft. It's certainly not at the bottom of the pile, I can say that!
Thanks so much for responding, and thanks again for watching, too! Cheers!
Yay! Thank you! Tepest is one of my favorite domains!
Glad to hear it, and many thanks for watching! Let me know what you'd like to see in future videos!
Just found your channel. Nice video. You seemed to focus on the 5th edition version over previous editions, so no mention of the inquisition of Belenus that hates 'fey' nor the faith of Hala. While the Inquisition part could be kept or removed(I kind of like them but there is Nidala and some other domains as well), I would strongly encourage including the Halan Faith, which is a goodly faith that uses good witch tropes, and some neopagan elements; also they hate Hags so perfect for Tepest.
what I might do is have the players encounter a small coven of Hallowed Witches in the forest, who work to counter the magic of Lorienda(I would have the spell not be permanent, but maybe last a few days. Long enough to escape but with the darklord wanting revenge.) this would break any sort of ability to drag the PCs back to Lorienda. Perhaps the witches are parents or relatives of the PCs or perhaps not. This should be a period of respite a break from the horror of act 1 and the horror of act 2.
Then if you are using the Inquistion of Belenus, instead of the Teething, you have a witch trial, believing them to be agents of Witches and Fey, This was described in the third edition Gazetteer V which I would draw heavily upon. This would be more of a roleplaying encounter mostly. If they are found guilty then it would be a witch burning which then turns to a combat encounter as they have to fight to flee the villagers. Even if found not guilty they likely would be forced out of town and onto their next adventure.
Ah yes, thank you for the campaign lore! I have read and do enjoy the old Kargatane netbooks, as well as the classic 2e lore, too! In these videos I make about Domains of Dread, I sometimes draw on older 2e or 3e lore (e.g. the mention of Senmet in Har'Akir, of Smedman's "When Black Roses Bloom" for fleshing out Darkon, etc.). These ideas are similarly great!
By the way, have you seen Oliver Darkshire's "Standing Forlorn," speaking of contemporary adaptations of older Ravenloft materials? It's also quite good!
Anyway, thanks again for the lore, as well as for watching and for the feedback! Cheers, and may all your Ravenloft players shiver with fear!
You really have such creative ideas!
Thank you so much! I hope to share many more in the future! Feel free to recommend further content for me, too. Many thanks for watching, and welcome to the channel! Cheers!
Great ideas!
Thanks very much! Let me know how the adventure goes if you try it at your table! Best wishes, and cheers!
I would love to see you do Borca, having 2 Darklords is too cool to pass up an adventure there
Absolutely! Added to the list, and cheers!
Awesome video, i Will surely use It! Just a question: how could we... Deal with character classes and backgrounds? Having been under Lorinda's "protection" since they have Memory, how can characters have those two things? Also, what could stop the players from running away when Lorinda is away?
Ah! That's a good question! If you wanted to be lazy, you could try to flavor the Backgrounds as just "having a natural knack" for something. For instance, a PC with the Noble Background is not someone who was literally raised as royalty; but that person *does* have a sense for how to interact with royalty. Re-skin Backgrounds, in other words, as *Aptitudes.* That's my suggestion! Excellent question! Thanks for commenting and watching, and cheers!
@@phdnd-drbowers thank you! Now that i think about It, in addition to the "sneak way fron Lorinda" question, i think the starting equipment would work in a similar way to the background. And, now that i think about It, the backgrounds can be Turned into "what did Lorinda make me do".
Eye of newt etc are plants in folklore…
So they are! Good point!
I did not intend to contradict this in my little adventure video, here. I think it's interesting to remember the real herbs, for which terms like "eye of newt" were euphemisms, as well as to wonder at their mythic representation as disgusting (why "eye of newt" and not "angel kisses" etc.)?
Thanks very much for this thoughtful comment, and welcome to the channel! Cheers!
Where would the garden be?
Great question! I’d place it just outside the Gurgyl, somewhere Lorinda can watch the PCs. She won’t let them wander off, but may allow them to go out and garden. Maybe she puts the gardening PC on a literal leash!
(Or maybe the garden is in the Gurgyl’s other leg, by the entrance!)
Thanks for prompting me to include this detail! And thanks for watching, too! Cheers!
Amazing job! I've been looking for a great adventure in Tepest and will be (with your permission, naturally) pulling some of this for my own campaign (set in Ravenloft, we stream every other Friday - check us out!) Thank you!
No permission needed to run it! Please do enjoy, adapt, and let me know how it all goes! (As for a write-up, that should be finished before this year's end!)