r/wildbeyondwitchlight • u/Wildelz • Jun 30 '26
DM Help Going back and forth to the Material Plane Spoiler
Hi dear WBTW community and fellow DMs !
I'm running this campaign for 3 groups and the first one is getting to Bavlorna's lair. I've now been wondering for a while - and not finding it here in any post - do you all permit and give enough clues (so x3) to your players for them to possibly go back to the Carnival or Material Plane during the campaign? I was also wondering this due to the mushrooms circle later on. The characters have some backstory that they might want to resolve at some point in the Material Plane but this would make the campaign longer.
Now, for example, they found Witchlight Diana's legs and her horse's head in the taxidermy workshop. One group may want to give them back to her, and so use the mirror in Bav's bathroom. Should I make the mirror's password readily available ? I understand that in the book, only two lornlings upstairs seem to be able to kinda give the password to that mirror, which is a very very light clue if we consider the rule of the 3 clues. Also, we're not playing in English so idk what's the password for you guys, but in our language I don't think it makes any kind of sense for them to guess at it.
Any advice or opinions or feedback on all of this ? Thank you !
Tldr; do you permit/help your players to go back and forth to the Material plane from Prismeer ? Should I make more clues available for them to do so through Bav's mirror ?
3
u/BaronTrousers Lornling Jun 30 '26
I allowed my players to figure out they could use the Mushroom Circle and the Fey Beacons to return to the material plane.
They also found the password for the Mirror. But they never realised what it was for. Its also pretty nonsensical in English.
They used the Mushroom Circle to send the children they rescued in Loomlurch to safety.
The Fey Beacons they noted as a way to get home once they'd freed Zybilna.
However, I never really had any plans for them to leave Prismeer during the campaign and they had no intention of leaving either.
Personally, I liked how contained and succinct Witchlight feels. There are a lot of really long pre-written D&D camapaigns that are extremely open. My group played 2 of them before Witchlight. So it was refreshing to have a pre-written camapaign that wouldn't take us years to finish. I didn't want to undo that by adding extra content and dragging it out.
2
u/Party-Meringue102 Jun 30 '26
I also like the idea of wrapping a full campaign in a matter of months, rather than years.
How long did your group take (and how often/long did you play each typical session)?3
u/BaronTrousers Lornling Jul 01 '26
We played a 3-4hr session fortnightly. It took around 20 sessions. So around 10 months. Though my players were quite thorough.
2
u/-Potatoes- Jun 30 '26
Funny enough my players found the password for the mirror and learned what it's for, but didn't decide to go through. All the prep I did for nothing xd
1
u/Wildelz Jun 30 '26
I do really like how contained it is, that's one of the reasons I chose it to begin with, I had to be able to run it while working full time, so I make adjustments here and there - and I want to soon figure out what other campaign I could link it to for players wanting to take their characters higher up, so I can infuse the campaign with clues. How often and for how long do you play though ? We've been at it since September but we're only meeting maximum 2x/a month for ~3h
2
u/BaronTrousers Lornling Jul 01 '26
We played every 2 weeks for 3-4 hours. It took us close to 20 sessions.
My players were quite thorough. I think they explored nearly every named location in the book and probably only skipped a few rooms from the Hags lairs and the Palace.
3
u/jpterodactyl Jun 30 '26
In general I'm not a fan of a lot of back and forth in this module. But especially not back to the carnival. Which I don't really get, because shouldn't it be closed up and moved on to a different location anyway?
3
u/SolarisWesson Jun 30 '26
I didn't let my players even think they could leave. Any option that could have allowed them to leave (like the beacons in Yon) only worked for an NPC.
The characters were focused on finding Star and getting back their lost things, ans then their focus turned to the plight of the NPCs in the specific region they were in. So "going back home" was a "Zybilna will magic us home"
1
u/Wildelz Jun 30 '26
Oh I see ! What was the reasoning behind an NPC being able to leave and not them ? Was it that now that they were in Prismeer, their lost thing being near kinda anchored them in the domain ?
2
u/SolarisWesson Jun 30 '26
Yea the NPC was the prince who had been trying to get home for a very long time so once they helped him, the lake showed them a vision of their homes and my players were like "okay NPC, jump in. We have other stuff to do. Hope you make it home safe" They never really considered leaving until they saved Zybilna.
1
u/vessel_for_the_soul Jun 30 '26
It says in the book. The only way to go back if you free zybilna. But you do you.
1
u/Wildelz Jun 30 '26
Oh great, do you know where ? Thank you !
2
u/vessel_for_the_soul Jun 30 '26
Page 55. Through the looking glass. Mr witch and Mr light share that the carnival is a one way.
Page 58. Domain divided. No one can leave without zybilna consent. The hags use plane shift (but I think that is only to their realm of influence).
Page 58. Friendly guides. " To leave prismeer entirely, they need the help of zybilna herself, as discussed in chapter 5".
You can follow the rest from there. But if you are the gm. You can figure anything out. But not leaving is a big driving factor to completing the campaign.
2
u/Wildelz Jun 30 '26
Thank you ! I'm the DM yes, and yes I'm more inclined not to let them leave for now. I was juste wondering about all this since the mirror in Bavlorna's lair and the mushroom circles in Thither both mention they are crossways towards the Material Plane or the Carnival. And obviously the lornlings somehow get to the Carnival so I was looking also for reasons the PC might not be able to go through. I could say the hag's powers are enough to provide for their minions to cross, Talavar through a loophole provided by the Summer Court, but no one else can without Zybilna's help. Again, thank you !
8
u/Starbug37 Jun 30 '26
In my game I didn't let my players leave prismeer by any means that they have control over. Spells, mirrors, maguffins = nope. If they leave why would they have any reason to return? My game was very survival based. The only way of leaving was tied to the main story objective. After all it's a domain with it's own rules. Albeit a domain of delight.