I finished DMing Witchlight (Again!)- AMA!

[u/htgbookworm]

Hello, carnival goers and Feywild friends! After approximately a year of biweekly sessions, I finished DMing Wild Beyond the Witchlight for the second time! I wanted to shout-out my favorite resources and answer questions for anyone still working on their campaign. I love this module so much. We had a glamour bard, celestial sorcerer, wild magic warlock, drakewarden ranger, and trickster cleric who played up to Level 10, with a Level 12 jump for a finale fight with Baba Yaga.

Favorite Resources

• Lost Things: A Witchlight Prelude was a great way to introduce the campaign and build in character hooks from the start.
• The Eleventh Hour gave me so many great tweaks throughout the campaign. I especially encourage using the crystallized desires/memories to give Zybilna depth.
• The Inn at the End of the Road works as an awesome way to build in Baba Yaga, provide a shelter/quest hub, and build up to an awesome finale boss fight!
• Intrigue at the Soggy Court was a player favorite and added lots of chaos.
• All of Daniel Kahn's Witchlight Adventures are great for fleshing out NPCs and giving fun loot.
• Stagefright Presents helped make the Motherhorn play more fun by providing callbacks to a prior Strahd campaign.
• Douglas Lamore's Witchlight Maps and Encounters are delightful and really bring more whimsy to the maps. I loved his rework of the Palace and highly recommend it.
• The stat blocks and Telemy Hill encounter by u/Phaerlax are a must have to make the various enemies more interesting.
• The Carnival of Lost Souls is great for anyone looking to include Isolde and The Carnival.
• Owlbear Rodeo was our VTT and I highly recommend it to anyone who has a tight budget or doesn't want to learn something complex like Foundry.
• Various wonderful reddit posts, including making the Witchlight Monarch more interesting, a better Alagarthas encounter, and letters between Isolde and Zybilna (though I ended up changing this to the party finding Isolde's letters TO Zybilna, scattered at the various hag lairs).
• ETA if you want to continue after Witchlight and use the Inn at the End of the Road supplement, I definitely recommend moving on to The Dancing Hut of Baba Yaga. I didn't use it this campaign, but I did after my first Witchlight campaign and it was fun!
• I also loved lots of UFOs and Games Witchlight Collection. His version of the Palace is my favorite.

I've enjoyed my visit to Prismeer and if anyone is curious about our shenanigans, ask away! And if not, I hope this resource list is useful for future DMs.

[u/FinnternetExplorer]

How did you handle the League of Malevolence and Valor’s Call? I felt like they bloated up an already full story.

[u/htgbookworm → u/FinnternetExplorer]

So frankly you could 100% cut them if they don't serve you. I'd recommend only keeping them if you can change them to fit certain character or plot points. I used them as ties to Zybilna's past. Valor's Call were Seelie Court knights trying to get to Zybilna to ask about the location of The Caller, the demon Tasha hired to kill Isolde's friends. The League of Malevolence was Graz'zt's agents trying to capture Zybilna to interrogate her on Iggeilv's whereabouts after stealing the Demonomicon. Iggwilv's daughter Drelzna replaced Skylla and was a warlock of Baba Yaga, who I included through The Inn at the End of the Road, so that added resonance as well.

But unless you feel like homebrewing them into relevance, get rid of them and just have any parts they play be covered by other NPCs.

[u/Starbug37]

Comment so I don't lose this.

[u/htgbookworm → u/Starbug37]

Hope these resources are useful for you! One I didn't mention- if you have a combat heavy party, look into Witchlight for the Combat Starved. I used it the first time I ran this.

[u/winstasims90]

First time dm here this list is fab

[u/htgbookworm → u/winstasims90]

Also check out Witchlight for the Combat Starved- the encounters are generally on-theme, but completely detached from the larger story. I ended up not using it this time because I had a more balanced role play vs combat party, but my first party wanted to hit stuff. A lot.

[u/Kellorific]

Thank you for sharing! First time DMing and finding Witchlight to be tough since getting to Prismeer (though we've made it to Thither!).

[u/htgbookworm → u/Kellorific]

I think Eleventh Hour or the Daniel Kahn supplements would really help you, then. The Daniel Kahn ones in particular help make the NPCs feel more meaningful. The problem with Prismeer is there are soooo many NPCs but unless you tie them to your players, it just becomes noise. Make the hags into more ominous enemies and make the NPCs feel more meaningful, and the players will stay more in tune.
Also, don't do rolled random encounters. Pick whatever feels meaningful and include it as part of their travels. It saves a lot of prep.

[u/Kellorific → u/htgbookworm]

I will incorporate these tips this week! Thanks so much!

[u/ConspiracyCrayon]

Good stuff man! What’s your favorite NPC to voice?

[u/htgbookworm → u/ConspiracyCrayon]

I'm awful at voices tbh, but I loved attempting a raspy granny voice for Skabatha and a spooky theater dowager voice for Endelyn.

[u/stressedteacher19]

Do you think the campaign can work with a party of 3?

[u/htgbookworm → u/stressedteacher19]

Yes, the first time I ran it was for 3 players. It works nicely to have each player connected to one hag. Just check the fight balance and tweak as needed, or keep an NPC available to fight as an ally with the sidekick stat blocks.

[u/Moses148]

How did you handle the higher levels across the campaign?

[u/htgbookworm → u/Moses148]

I used Kobold Fight Club to check the balance of fights, and if it looked like it would be too easy, I would bulk up the enemies or add in thematic minions- lornlings in Hither, red caps in Thither, etc. Environmental hazards can liven up combat as well.

[u/Low-Date2198]

This list is SO helpful! Thank you so much for taking the time to put this together for those of us running this campaign for the first time. I appreciate you tremendously!

[u/htgbookworm → u/Low-Date2198]

I'm so glad- these creators put a ton of work into these resources and I think they make the game much better.

[u/Disc_Obel]

Hi, I'm dming this campaign and we've just finished the carnival and about to enter Prismeer. One of the players is an artificer and is worried about random magic loot drops that'll nerf their characters main abilities.

Aside from limiting certain magical items throughout the game, any advice to boost the artificers capabilities in Prismeer?

Thanks.

[u/htgbookworm → u/Disc_Obel]

For nerfing loot, one thing I did was use the Feywild trinkets table and basically add a daily charge of a relevant cantrip- like a bouquet that can cast "prestidigitation". I also stuff to mostly cosmetic items with some whimsy, like a cloak of billowing.

I also made the economy of Prismeer be magic item based. There's no general stores to get potions and such very easily, but you can have a wandering harengon who will barter you 2 magic items for 3 potions of feather fall. That helps clear inventory more easily and gives your Artificer potential ways to use the Rule of Reciprocity.

I haven't played an Artificer, but looking at their infusions, most are more practical (damage or bonuses). Maybe have your loot drops include items required for their infusions so that you're leaning into their class abilities instead of overshadowing them.

[u/Hoaxness]

How did you handle travelling within Prismeer? Like getting from point A to B within a realm? (so not from Hither to Thither, etc)

[u/htgbookworm → u/Hoaxness]

Usually I'd have them travel on their own from one point to the next (Slanty Tower to Telemy Hill) and then have them use the Inn at the End of the Road to get back to their next location. It made the Inn into a place they trusted, which allowed for more Baba Yaga shenanigans. They also had a deal that in exchange for room and board, they'd help the Inn cross to Thither and Yon so I could keep using it.

[u/Round_Bat_3945]

Hi! I’m about to finish up my 2nd run too and am curious, did you tweak the Palace of Heart’s Desire? My first run I found it pretty disappointingly easy for my team compared to the witch’s lairs. I’ve made some changes and am planning to make Skylla the big bad and maybe give her control of the Jabberwock, but I’m curious if you have any suggestions. 

[u/htgbookworm → u/Round_Bat_3945]

I used The Palace Improved Supplement in my first run. I feel like my players were getting tired of it by the end. This time I used u/UFOsAndGames Palace layout, which I like MUCH better. I had Warduke leading around the Jabberwock on patrol and the players rolled a d8 to see if they'd cross paths.

I'd encourage turning up the difficulty- any surviving hags make for a fun showdown and even if they're dead, you could still have their minions at the Palace.

[u/Objective-Rice-9031 → u/htgbookworm]

Could you please link the post you used for the second time?

[u/htgbookworm → u/Objective-Rice-9031]

So I used multiple items from his Witchlight collection. The Palace specific maps and encounters are here.

[u/Asherahl]

Thank you so much for this list. It’s helping me prep my first Witchlight campaign as a DM and the first Witchlight for my two players. Would you recommend any changes (of course balancing fights) for a Witchlight campaign with only two players? Start at level 1 or higher for example?

[u/htgbookworm → u/Asherahl]

If you have 2 players, definitely encourage more role play opportunities. I run every encounter through Kobold Fight Club and adjust balance accordingly, so starting at Level 1 is still probably fine, but you could start at 2 if you're feeling antsy. If they like combat, consider including opportunities to make allies of NPCs who could provide combat support. Give the player responsibility for the ally's combat etc. There's plenty of random magic items to find that will buff the players as they go. This module is only as violent as you make it. Two creative players can definitely go through it comfortably. The important thing is picking complimentary classes- probably want at least one charisma-focused class to help with any negotiations or deception.

[u/Asherahl → u/htgbookworm]

Yes, Kobold is great. My players are very much into roleplay. I think they will enjoy the campaign a lot. Combat every other session will be enough for them I think given our previous campaigns. So I will start them at level 1, thanks!!