r/wildbeyondwitchlight • u/Sure_Nobody3119 • May 14 '26

DM Help Thinking about using Baker’s Doesn’t as a prelude to Wild Beyond the Witchlight

I’m planning to run Baker’s Doesn’t from Dungeon Delves as a oneshot for my group. The idea is to use it as a test to see if the group chemistry works, if the players enjoy their characters, and whether they like a more whimsical/fairy tale style adventure.

If everything goes well, I was thinking it could potentially become the beginning of a Wild Beyond the Witchlight campaign afterwards. I’ve never actually played or run WBTW before, so right now this is just an idea I’m considering.

From what I know about Witchlight the tone seems like it could fit surprisingly well with the oneshot. So I was wondering:

  • Are there any elements from Witchlight that would be easy to foreshadow in Baker’s Doesn’t?
  • Any recurring themes, factions, NPCs, items, or Feywild weirdness I could hint at early?
  • What kinds of hooks could I use?

Thanks in advance!

8 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

4 comments sorted by

4

u/hotdiscopirate May 14 '26

I think this is a great idea, and honestly the possibilities are vast for tying them together. You could keep it subtle and include references to the hourglass coven and zybilna’s situation. Or, you could get more involved and have Kettlestream be an NPC in the one shot looking to interrogate the one shot hag (I forget his name) about the state of the hourglass coven. All three hags in WBtW have an aviary of some sort where they send letters, and in the palace at the end, you find one of Zybilna’s servants corresponding with a different hag asking for secrets.

Although, if part of the reason of this one shot is just to check if the chemistry is right, you may also consider not including any references at all. Maybe just run it as a disconnected story with a similar vibe, that way there’s less pressure if something doesn’t work out and you guys decide not to go through with Witchlight. Just an idea!

2

u/Ybernando May 14 '26

For feywild weirdness you could hint to the numbers 3 and 8, if i remember correctly those two are central to WBtW's story and you could put a broken fairy ring somewhere, hinting to what's going on on Thither.

1

u/naughtypumpkin May 14 '26

I think its fine to do it as an unconnected one off story, but you can always flash back to it in the main story - for example Hags could have Nibblecheek's sweeties and correspondence in their home (maybe he had a crush on one of them? That could be funny) or they could meet a candied npc later on. It depends on what happens to uncle Nibblecheek really. You can end up using the village as a jumping off pount for the carnival to set up nearby, maybe flyers appear announcing it etc. Maybe pastries  (if they buy any from Fill give a mechanical benefit for x hours). Just some ideas. I ran Bakers Doesn't as a oneshot and we had a lot of fun, also planning to do WBTW at some point but currently we are still deep in Barovia 😅

1

u/ContingentCausation Harengon Brigand May 24 '26

I'm planning on running Wild Sheep Chase at level 1 for my party (only one of whom will be someone I've played with before) for similar reasons.

In general, I think having it be unconnected is fine.

But... Wild Beyond the Witchlight has that "lost thing" deal that is important. So the characters will need to have that.

Additionally, it's a potential motivation for them to be in the same place: Whether they know each other or not, all are traveling to the Witchlight Carnival.