How to run SKT Chapter 3 in a single session - D&D Storm King's Thunder Guide 3

Рет қаралды 11,919

Күн бұрын

The Savage Frontier is an absolute nightmare. With over 100 locations, a few dozen quests, it takes some Dungeon Masters months to finish. In this video, I'll show you how to run SKT Chapter 3 in a single session using Shorthand Travel Rules and The Montage Dungeon. ▼CLICK▼
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▼▼ Timestamps ▼▼
0:00 Introduction
0:15 Things to remember before starting
1:20 PART 1 Why Not Run SKT Chapter 3 As-Written
4:09 PART 2 The Purpose of SKT Chapter 3
6:37 PART 3 The Downside of the Montage Dungeon
8:25 PART 4 Shorthand Travel Rules
12:30 PART 5 The Montage Dungeon
24:33 Individual Scenes in SKT Chapter 3
26:00 The Party Meets a Cool Deer
26:50 The Party Goes to the Beach
27:13 The Party Meets Harshnag
28:48 The Party Finishes the Montage
29:35 The Party Impresses the Klauth the Great Dragon
32:12 The Party Learns How to Fly
33:09 The Party Recovers a Giant Relic
34:40 The Party Plunders a Dragon Burial Site
36:25 The Party Meets the Worst Adventurer Ever
39:37 The Party Stages a Prison Break
42:50 The Party Smashes a Cult
45:29 The Party Loses an Eating Competition
46:39 The Party Fools a Big Bird
48:06 The Party Chases the Dawn Titan
50:01 Frost and Cloud Giants
51:01 Believe in yourself
#dnd #5e #skt

Пікірлер: 102

@heyitsMattyP 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks to our sponsor *dScryb!* Visit www.dscryb.com/perkins and use code PERKINS for 10% off your first subscription bill. I just want to address some comments that will inevitably come about me railroading the party or misunderstanding the purpose of SKT and proper D&D: I don't care. We don't know each other. Go yell at a different stranger. This video was a massive project and I'm really proud of it. The End. -------------- ❤ Support the Channel ❤ -------------- 💚 Patreon: matthewperkins.net/patreon 💚 Donate: matthewperkins.net/donate 💚 Store: matthewperkins.net/store 💚 DM Guild: matthewperkins.net/dmsguild 💜 Twitch: matthewperkins.net/twitch 💜 TikTok: matthewperkins.net/tiktok 🧡 Discord: matthewperkins.net/discord 🧡 Facebook: matthewperkins.net/facebook 🧡 Twitter: matthewperkins.net/twitter 🧡 Instagram: matthewperkins.net/instagram 🧡 Reddit: matthewperkins.net/reddit ✏ Blog: matthewperkins.net/blog 📧 For marketing/business/sponsorship inquiries, email: mperkins.dm@gmail.com

@jaredwhight2596 2 жыл бұрын

Not sure I'm ever going to run SKT, but will definitely be rewatching this video multiple times. Tons of great info and ideas as always. Love these types of vids. Keep up the excellent work, Matty-P!

@heyitsMattyP 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks Jared! It's really encouraging to hear these videos have a reach beyond just SKT Dungeon Masters :)

@Platypulogist 2 жыл бұрын

Dude!! The wait was worth it! All of these tips will be very useful not only for this monstrous chapter, but any game! I think all apply these for my homebrew, but whenever I find one of those humongous pre-written chapters it would be easier to run them. Thank you for the video

@scottcarroll1102 2 жыл бұрын

Great to see you post more Storm Kings Thunder stuff! I have been waiting for this.

@heyitsMattyP 2 жыл бұрын

Excellent! Glad it's helpful :) I'm working on the next two SKT videos now

@crossr1984 8 күн бұрын

This was an amazing video. At a certain point I lost track and thought you were doing the whole book in this. So much stuff packed in, it's hard to believe this is the condensed version. Really cool.

@heyitsMattyP 4 сағат бұрын

Thank you! This video was a nightmare to write :)

@orwin5445 2 жыл бұрын

This has been a great help, I want to run this at some point down the line and it's a huge task!

@deostarbird 2 жыл бұрын

Came here after watching your LMoP vids and I gotta say I'm so impressed man! Thank you so much for the time and energy you put into these vids, it is so helpful for new DM's like myself. I'm gonna continue my campaign into SKT and it's so great to have you as a resource. Keep up the excellent work dude 🤙👏

@heyitsMattyP 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much! This one was a massive task. I'm going through SKT pretty slowly, but we'll get there!

@drustrange3379 2 жыл бұрын

I’m so glad this series is back. I’ve been dragging my feet on starting my next campaign. I love this series so much can’t wait for all the other adventures! You’re the man!

@heyitsMattyP 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you! I'm working my way slowly through SKT, but I'll get there!

@trentkelly8131 Жыл бұрын

I know you hate doing this storm kings thunder tips series but I hope you do continue it one day. I'm currently running a modified version of it and I've found the content you have produced for it to be invaluable especially the video about iymrith

@heyitsMattyP Жыл бұрын

Glad it's been helpful! I will finish this series soon. I have about 10 layout projects to finish first, but then I am writing scripts for SKT

@trentkelly8131 Жыл бұрын

@@heyitsMattyP amazing! ❤️

@RaphaDeSouza 2 жыл бұрын

LET'S GO! I've been waiting for this video! Super hyped to watch

@heyitsMattyP 2 жыл бұрын

Oh rad! It was a lot of work to make, so I hope it's helpful :)

@sheldoon51 9 ай бұрын

Awesome Matt! Really enjoy your videos and I appreciate your hard work :)

@heyitsMattyP 9 ай бұрын

Thank you! This particular video was a massive slog

@DrAndrewJBlack 2 жыл бұрын

This was an excellent intro video. I really like the idea of a cold start.

@heyitsMattyP 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

@OgieSifter Жыл бұрын

I like saving the random encounters as post story conclusion adventures, like the ghost lords doing a wild hunt is too good of an adventure seed to just be a one off encounter

@VirusVisal 2 жыл бұрын

I've been runing it for a while and we have had a lot of sessions of "chapter 3" hahaha I'm letting them explore the world and using that to merge stuff from their backgrounds to the story. Maybe that was not the best idea but it's too late for me, and while my players enjoy the traveling an roleplaying I'll keep it up until I feel it's time to move on!

@Mekhami 2 жыл бұрын

this is what i'm doing as well. this is the best chapter in the book imo, so much world to build in this chapter

@vitalitymirth 2 жыл бұрын

This video was great, thank you. Lots of good ideas, and your jokes made me laugh, including the long text “Rocky” disclaimer.

@heyitsMattyP 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you! Happy to help :)

@tommasomonello4971 2 жыл бұрын

I’ve been waiting for this video since I was running chapter 2, I’m currently at chapter 10 🙃

@heyitsMattyP 2 жыл бұрын

Oh damn! Maybe I'll catch you on your third playthrough with a complete series of guides :)

@edwardsawdy2348 2 жыл бұрын

Big man's back on the grind, been looking forward to this for a while.

@heyitsMattyP 2 жыл бұрын

Haha that's the first time anyone's ever called me the big man -- but I am certainly back on that grind

@ericpalmer7214 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for publishing chapter 3

@heyitsMattyP 2 жыл бұрын

My pleasure :) Working on Chapter 4, a detailed Imyrith breakdown and a heist to retrieve the Giant Artifact from a barbarian mound

@LORD-DHUUM 2 жыл бұрын

I did it kinda similar, after nightstone morak sends the party to triboar and during their travels they notice that all the villages they passed were either burned or destroyed by rocks similar to nightstone and after 2 weeks of traveling they meet zephyros who shows them through his orb small snippets of epic feats and heroic adventures ( foreshadowing chapter 3). In triboar halfway of the fight with the fire giants harshnag shows up aiding the party, after dealing with the fire giants he urges them to deal with lords of giants. Chapter 3 took us 4 short sessions to conclude, were the party would travel to one lord and during their travels we would do small montages of them dealing with the quests then reach the lord dungeon and dealing with him or her. They got to do everything in chapter 3 and not miss on anything.

@GeorgeHofmann2 2 жыл бұрын

Great homework assignment! It’ll be good practice for all the DMs who try it.

@GeorgeHofmann2 2 жыл бұрын

And perfect placement of the dScryb ad

@Squirdle27 Жыл бұрын

About to start SKT as DM, while reading through this chapter I was lost, thanks for an easier way through it!

@heyitsMattyP Жыл бұрын

Glad to help!

@O4C209 Жыл бұрын

I'm running Strixhaven right now and there's a lot of time passing by that Durant really say what's happening. This video has inspired me to short cut through those moments rather than fill them out. Thank you.

@heyitsMattyP Жыл бұрын

Nice one Orion! I read Strixhaven on stream and I really struggled with it. Feels like a great setting, but a very poor adventure. How are you finding it?

@IlijaUrosevic Жыл бұрын

Awesome video. Even though i might not agree with some stuff, its definitely not railroading, they say where they go what they do, just skipping the travel. I have plan too run it at some point like that, but still might add few encounters like normal, maybe a bit less. Like week of travel one roll, one encounter or two. Definitely no need to keep the rolls every day, and camp with watch every night. Unless its some chase or time sensitive thing.

@heyitsMattyP Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the feedback! This video was a nightmare to make and it stun-locked me for about a month.

@fgarza 2 жыл бұрын

My problem with SKT as a relatively new DM, is that It's soooo much information and no streamline story to really help me and my players understand what they are doing... It's been kind of horrible to plan ahead. I'm currently after Triboar to Chapter 3, after they survived the fire gigant attack, and Just sent them to Yartar and made some kind of sewer level to get the Gigant Bane Axe... Looking for more info to tackle the next part..

@Beigerose13 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much for all the work you put into this. I'm running this soon and it's my first time Dm-ing something that isn't a one shot. I was getting really overwhelmed and discouraged by just reading the book and trying to plan how everything is going to be pieced together. My players prefer a more direct path than the exploration of ch3. After watching this I am now more excited than ever to run the game. I'm super excited for your next video of you showing us this being played, it's going to be so helpful. Thank you for helping make the dnd community more accessible and welcoming.

@heyitsMattyP 2 жыл бұрын

Glad you've found it helpful! I think I've made Chapter 3 complicated in a different way, but it's organised in so it feels more manageable to me. Even though I have more SKT videos coming out before it, I reckon the Chapter 3 liveplay video will take two months to publish - it's not something I've every tried to film or edit before, so I'll have to learn some new skills going into it.

@RylanStorm Жыл бұрын

Best in mind. 75% of your time in SKT is spent in Chapters 3 & 4. Cutting it down isn't a bad idea. Don't it in one session will dramatically shorten it.

@heyitsMattyP Жыл бұрын

If I could get through SKT in like 10 sessions, that would be perfect for me!

@olobla 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for your work! Probably running SKT in the near future. Is there already a written guide to chapter 3? Thinking about becoming a patreon but cant find it there

@heyitsMattyP 2 жыл бұрын

Hey mate! Glad to help :) Here's the written PDF: www.patreon.com/posts/59860446 Patreon has been a great help for my channel and I always appreciate the support, but I gotta say: it's really hard to navigate and find stuff you're specifically looking for.

@claus-peterklas6952 11 ай бұрын

Hi Matthew, thanks for this really nice video. I am playing with a group from 12y-52y and look for a new adventure. I hooked some new adventures with a bit of Candlekeep (one-shot) and then the starterkit Dragons of Storm Wreck Isle. Watching your three videos gave me a really nice intro to SKT and I will go for it. And, as you said in the video, I am working full-time, so not to much time for preparation. And, I need to please the above age range. So, I like the idea of having some short sequences and maybe some deeper sequences. So, not 20 sessions for chapter 3, but maybe 2 or 3? Thx for the video.

@Harry-cj3yu 11 ай бұрын

I'm in a similar place and I reckon we could have you players pick a scene that they want to play out in full and just try and flesh out the full scene. Or maybe just prep a scene and the. Have that thrown in the middle of the session.

@heyitsMattyP 11 ай бұрын

Cheers mate! From testimonials, doing this in one session is a bit of a reach, but I've had people report that it went very well over two sessions.

@Mekhami 2 жыл бұрын

This is intriguing, even though I'm a bit skeptical. What I'm really missing is an example of how you're playing these scenes out in the zoomed out way, how you're delivering the exposition that comes from each of these scenes.

@heyitsMattyP 2 жыл бұрын

The exposition would look a lot more direct with less room for misinterpretation than usual. This kind of session can work, but one of the hardest part is actually communicating the idea to the players so the 1) understand the rules and 2) are actually on board to do something non-standard.

@xmascarroll8581 2 жыл бұрын

I actually subscribed for your first SKT videos. I am going to try and run the campaign for my group next year! Do you have any suggestions for a post level 10 module to couple this with?

@heyitsMattyP 2 жыл бұрын

Oooh I'm not sure! I tend to run campaigns / modules for a specific party and then retire those characters, so every party is tailor-made for each campaign

@xmascarroll8581 2 жыл бұрын

@@heyitsMattyP Thats a good idea, I think I may have the initial campaign be heavily dictated by SKT with subtle hints to outside backstory. Then maybe build out a few small adventure for the characters to explore their own back stories. Thanks for the help!

@ccgod 2 жыл бұрын

@@xmascarroll8581 I'm running lost mines into skt then going to switch to drow end game because the party killed lolths fav great grand kid or whatever the black spider. So I got rise of the drow for that.

@MartijnMos Жыл бұрын

Hey Matt, I'm gonna run Strom King's Thunder with my collage roommates. I've read the book cover to cover now, and I've seen the previous two episodes as well. I'm interested to see what suggestions you make, but I'll be honest. This "Montage" idea is not really my kinda jam, and I think my players will enjoy a bit more drawn out game a bit more. However, I will probably do some of the fast-travel gimmicks that you talked about. Like you said, there are different ways to play the game, but this one is not mine :p

@heyitsMattyP Жыл бұрын

Yeah go for it! So long as you're making decisions rather than defaulting blindly to the book, they're the right decisions.

@simulacrum5899 2 жыл бұрын

The reason chapter 3 worked well for my group is thst A, I added a ton of backstory hooks that linked or will link with the main story, which my players loved fleshing out. It was not wandering for wandering sake. Plus, I basically ran both golden fields and Bryn shander

@quazarthemad 2 жыл бұрын

Yeah we have had fun doing ch 3 for several months. Side quests and story hints all the way, idk why I would WANT to skip all this?

@heyitsMattyP 2 жыл бұрын

Fair enough! There's more than one way to play the game :)

@hensonson Жыл бұрын

I started this campaign after a dragon of ice pike, in which my players achieved 5 th level. A hook up for a new adventure was that the lord of Neverwinter heard about the crew and summoned them to find the reason behind the threat of giants in exchange for a reward. He gave them three locations where the giants were seen: Bryn Shander, Triboar and Golden Fields. After Bryn Shander my players started lurking around the map to find more evidence, and the motivation in this case was good

@heyitsMattyP Жыл бұрын

Oh cool! Sounds like you're doing well :)

@jacobbuzza9974 2 жыл бұрын

I'm running a 6-session speedrun of this module while half of my players are on a road trip and this vid is perfect to cut down the majority of the content! I figured I would montage this section, but I absolutely love the way you've structured it. Much thanks for saving me a headache!

@heyitsMattyP 2 жыл бұрын

Nice one! I'm a big fan of limited-run campaigns like that. It was a massive heart for me too haha -- this one was a nightmare to make

@brandonmeyer9813 2 жыл бұрын

I can see both sides half my party wants to travel around and do other things and the other half are like what's going on with giants and why are they going aggro.

@alcahuetasanonymous 2 жыл бұрын

In your opinion- is there a good way to make the PCs confront all five giant lords before getting the conch? They seem like such fun and varied encounters, I don’t want to choose just one 😭

@heyitsMattyP 2 жыл бұрын

You're not gonna like my opinion haha - no I don't think there's a good way to run every giant encounter. My biggest criticism of this module is that it's UNFOCUSSED, and the burden of finding the story's focus falls to us unfortunately. Kill your darlings, find the focus and let your players enjoy an uncluttered story that respects their time.

@samrushin2476 Жыл бұрын

I'm having a bit of trouble envisioning how this would look at the table. Did you get round to demonstrating a playthrough using this method? It would be really good to see :)

@heyitsMattyP Жыл бұрын

Unfortunately lockdowns killed the momentum of our gaming group and I never got around to making a demo

@samrushin2476 Жыл бұрын

@@heyitsMattyP thanks for getting back to me mate, I really appreciate it! I'm sorry to hear about your groups and I hope you get back to playing soon.

@paulsavas2394 8 ай бұрын

Did the highlight video make it on KZfaq?

@heyitsMattyP 7 ай бұрын

It did not :(

@stefanvomscheidt8443 Жыл бұрын

what is 'Giant Attack PDF'? Please help

@heyitsMattyP Жыл бұрын

It's an original PDF: www.patreon.com/posts/giant-attack-2-52791355

@leonardobarrios5497 8 ай бұрын

I mean we are a new party soo i will probably show them the thrill of the random encounters and then once yhey learn better the roads and that stuff the can avoid the combat in the roads and the rations stuff

@CaptPoco 2 жыл бұрын

I can't believe this guy is just coasting off of the D&D knowledge of his famous father, Chris Perkins. What a showboat!

@UncrushableHope Жыл бұрын

I'm not gonna lie, I find it ironic that he says that he uses the montage dudgeon because normal way is more or less boring, and when he explained it my first thought was "That sounds really boring." I and my players usually prefer it mostly to be as though Tolkien is writing the journey, you know the "and the trees gave way to reveal a five foot whatever and they camped for three hours and the elf broke into song and...." so on and so forth. yeah we want to get stuff done but the shenanigans are enough to keep it interesting. However this new group I might be DMing for strikes me as the type that might prefer it closer to this way for the last part of the chapter at least. It's always amazing to see how different groups like to do things.

@heyitsMattyP Жыл бұрын

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

@jenniferwhite6089 2 жыл бұрын

came across a deaf D&D game once that away amazing they have 8 games going at one time too all of then were deaf too or sign language all the would do if your talked you out of the game they rented the restunat for the game too 24 hours they played and eat too i know sign language too i was able to laugh at them too i could not make it back home to get my D&D they were have 48 hour game to love to taken part in it i had to be at the other side drive trucks at that time too

@joelarteaga370 2 жыл бұрын

This feels like a long winded way to say skip chapter 3

@heyitsMattyP 2 жыл бұрын

Nope. This is about how to run chapter 3.

@quazarthemad 2 жыл бұрын

For sure you are literally just skipping it if you're gonna do this

@ccgod 2 жыл бұрын

@@quazarthemad yep why not just have them meet the giant the day after they leave whatever town they're in and start the rest of the story? I made a ton of fun and interesting side quests that deals with each characters back story for chapter 3. And added in more kraken society stuff

@parapotato 2 жыл бұрын

I feel if you wanted to keep a bit more of the spectacle of this chapter. Condensing it down to maybe 3 sessions would make it feel a bit weightier with a begin exploring, full exploration, and resolution session, but would still be respectful of player time and not bog the entire campaign down.

@heyitsMattyP 2 жыл бұрын

In the end, I think I just don't like chapter 3 and I want to get through it as fast as possible.

@mikejednorog3383 2 жыл бұрын

Why skip over of the most fun part ( if it doesn’t scare the s…. Outta you ) haha

@stevo0109 2 жыл бұрын

I’m having a hard time seeing this play out in a fun way at the table, would love to see an actual play video so that I can get a better understanding of it in practice. It seems like you’re just skipping a chapter

@heyitsMattyP 2 жыл бұрын

I'll get my gaming group together sometime next month and record an example :)

@CharlieDouglas Жыл бұрын

This is how to DM for players with TikTok attention spans lol

@heyitsMattyP Жыл бұрын

"Back in my day, we played D&D for twelve hours in the SNOW"

@jctxcboy36 Жыл бұрын

Chapter 3 in 1 session....LOL. I think I will pas on that one. Taking your time allows you time to introduce the players to some colorful lore and history not to mention the tremendous opportunities to enhance this game.....do not like to rush through this stuff.

@heyitsMattyP Жыл бұрын

Heh, exploring the colourful lore, history and not to mention tremendous opportunities to enhance the game....LOL. I think I will pass on that one.

@jctxcboy36 Жыл бұрын

@@heyitsMattyP Guess it depends on your view of D&D. Been playing since the 80's and the idea of rushing through is far from appealing to me. But to each his own. I am use to the more indepth modules where you were given the opportunity to make it your own which rarely involved a quick process.

@ThisIsGoogle Жыл бұрын

This is a complete misunderstanding what DnD is all about. Don't shorten adventures, expand, expand and expand. Let players do what they want to the point where nobody even knows what adventure they started with. It's DnD, not netflix.

@joecci1 2 жыл бұрын

Prrrrobbly not the best thing to compare your short hand travel rules to season 8 of game of thrones... literally the most hated season because it ruined the show by short cutting everything LOL. I'm guessing most DMs and even players won't care for instant fast travel like you're saying. Here are some simple shorthand travel rules that don't completely destroy the connective tissue of your campaign but cut out 80% of travel time: You pick a destination and make 1 roll to see if they have a smooth journey or have an encounter. If you roll a 16 or higher you get an encounter. Then roll to determine which day of travel it happens on (choose the most appropriate dice for this) You then roll again 10 or lower = night-time encounter. 11 or higher = daytime encounter. (for night watch encounters I take the total number of party members roll a 4, 6 or 10 sided dice and have the encounter happen on the corresponding watch that was rolled on the dice.) If the destination is particularly far away you can say roll once for every 3 days travel or every 1 week of travel etc. If you want to build in rations/supply consumption you just set a daily rate and calculate what it is for each destination. If the players didn't pack enough food for the journey you can say "on day X of the journey you realize you didn't pack enough food for the journey" At that point you can drop out of "abbreviated travel" into a nitty gritty survival mode until they've successfully hunted an animal (which could lead to another encounter)/ gathered enough supplies for the next leg of the trip. Option 2: Another option is to just have scripted encounters at different legs of the trip. I.E. you mark spots on the map that the party will encounter certain creatures. Have a block of text to describe the area/that part of the journey.... read that block of text and then play out the encounter. You can then use the same dice rules as above to determine day or night and which watch it occurs on if it's a night encounter.

@heyitsMattyP 2 жыл бұрын

I loved the travel pace of Season 8! Awful season, but when they'd already committed to disappointing me, at least they weren't going to waste any time doing it.