D&D 5E Prepping for The Wild Beyond the Witchlight -- The Witchlight Carnival

[Savage Wombat]

When I ran a similar eating contest in Netherdeep, I found out that one of my players has an intense dislike of eating contests. I quickly resolved it (for another player) with a stat check and no particular description. Just a thing for any Session 0 fans.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Wizard has realized that the business model let's them profit off of the labors of dedicated fans. Why not let the DMs Guild do the heavy lifting? This is the same model Chaosium is using for Call of Cthulhu -- produce the core books and let the fans write scenarios.

I think Domains of Delight was written under contract for WotC, though. It feels like something that got turned in too late or was cut for space.

 

[RealAlHazred]

When I ran a similar eating contest in Netherdeep, I found out that one of my players has an intense dislike of eating contests. I quickly resolved it (for another player) with a stat check and no particular description. Just a thing for any Session 0 fans.

Yeah, that's the right way to handle it IMO. I don't hate the skill/characteristic checks, but they should be the last resort. That's why I'm trying to flesh out what the players can have their characters do.

 

[RealAlHazred]

I'm thinking of changing up the "Outstare the Cyclops" contest a bit. As written, you're outstaring an illusory cyclops, which is kind of boring. At the very least, if you want to stick with that, figure out who's doing the illusion, and then give them a personality.

I'm a big fan of older Faerie stuff, so I'm replacing the illusory cyclops with a one-eyed young fomorian, Cruidh. They didn't really fit in with their kin, who are constantly at war with the Feywild elves; they wanted to do something else. Then, they encountered the Witchlight Carnival, and joined up as a Witchlight Hand. Misters Witch and Light conceived of this carnival game, and they've gotten really into it.

Just need to figure out what their interests are since joining the Carnival. Orcish poetry? Brewing fungus beer? Learning the hurdy-gurdy?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I'm thinking of changing up the "Outstare the Cyclops" contest a bit. As written, you're outstaring an illusory cyclops, which is kind of boring. At the very least, if you want to stick with that, figure out who's doing the illusion, and then give them a personality.

I'm a big fan of older Faerie stuff, so I'm replacing the illusory cyclops with a one-eyed young fomorian, Cruidh.

That's a nice upgrade.

 

[RealAlHazred]

So, I've been prepping the last few days, putting things into a Tiddlywiki to organize my thoughts and modifications. Looking pretty good so far.

In inputting the elements of the different parts of the carnival, I realized there is an eating contest in the Feasting Orchard. I missed it because, frankly, I dislike the inclusion of Ellywick Tumblestrum. I'm taking her out of there.

For those unaware, Ellywick Tumblestrum was the planeswalker they created for the Forgotten Realms Magic: the Gathering set. She's got a deck of many things, and can mold reality, and, frankly, should be able to do the whole module by herself, or with the other Mary Sues in her regular adventuring party. This is akin to Elminster showing up at the beginning of the module to give you your marching orders.

The Linguistic Atlas Project remains the most thorough and expansive study of American English undertaken to date, with sub-projects covering every geographic region and subculture. I believe they are even trying to develop AI tools to try to predict future linguistic changes in American English. And if I had their full resources to bear, I still couldn't find a word to express how little I want to include Elllyminsterwick in my game.

Anyway, the Faerie Cake Eating Contest is kind of bland. I need to figure out how to punch that up as well.

 

[Quickleaf]

Almiraj Ring Toss = draw/print picture of almiraj inside a 2-inch circle. players must roll dice from X distance. if die lands entirely in circle they win.

 

[RealAlHazred]

Almiraj Ring Toss = draw/print picture of almiraj inside a 2-inch circle. players must roll dice from X distance. if die lands entirely in circle they win.

Players do love tossing the fancy math rocks...

 

[RealAlHazred]

Last year, I picked up the DM's Bundle for WBW on DTRPG. It's got a few things to expand the Carnival, and I'm checking through them now. I should probably leave a review of the products here and on the product page as I do.

Also, it's worth noting that, per the various monster books, strong emotions in the Feywild can actually lead to the creation of new fey creatures. I need to make a list of the ones that do.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Also, it's worth noting that, per the various monster books, strong emotions in the Feywild can actually lead to the creation of new fey creatures. I need to make a list of the ones that do.

Cawood Publishing has two Feyland bestiaries, although the second is mostly concerned with a war between the faerie courts. But the first one is pretty good and worth checking out. I don't recall any critters explicitly being born from strong emotions, but there are a lot of good, useful monsters, which is standard for their books. (As opposed to "wow, that's cool" monsters I'm never likely to use in play, because they're just too specific or just too weird.)