Book of the Raven | Candlekeep Mysteries DM Guide 

This is some awesome advice. I love the way you tied everything together and will be using most of those ideas in my upcoming game. Thanks for the helpful video!

Nicely done. That does make for a very satisfying haunted house story.

Hey Sam, these were great adjustments! I totally felt the same about hanging plot threads and lack of party motivations. I am prepping to take your notes and run it for the first time with my daughter and some friends. Wish me luck!

I've made the setting of the book be a "corridor" to the Shadowplane and the manor be the Gate to enter it completely! The book was found by my players in a burnt manor. When they opened the book to investigate they inadvertently opened this corridor and are stuck there because the book is a one way ticket only! I'm looking forward to seeing how they solve the mystery!

Lots of people have complained about this chapter, but you're the only one I've found who digs in and gives actionable advice. Thanks, man 👍

My long-campaign plan has the PCs as employees ("troubleshooters") for Candlekeep. For this one, the whole thing is actually a test for the PCs created by their boss to see if the party are actually as good as they think they are. The wereravens are allies of Candlekeep in its mission to keep dangerous books out of people's hands, and are intentionally trying to spook the party. The raven that delivers the book at the beginning is a wereraven, and it delivers it by literally dropping it on a PC's head as they walk through a courtyard.

The more I look at this, the more it feels like this was a half finished product. Like, this seems to be a Level 1 - 3 that belonged in Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft.

I really like the modifications you suggested, this did feel all over the place reading through it.

Looking forward this also being an intro to Ravenloft and Domain(s) of Dread for my characters. Thanks for video!

Thanks for making this video. I’m roping it into our main campaign as a PC is looking for the soul of his lost lover. This chapter gives me the means to take them to the Shadowfell in a unique way with some lore and combat along the way.

These are fantastic suggestions to improve on the chapter! Thank you so much! ❤

Thanks for the breakdown! I am about to run this as a two-shot and the timing information was extremely useful. Also I like the twist that the baroness is the BBEG. Gotta agree that the writing of this adventure is a bit all over the place. Thanks for tying it together. I am also SO gonna pick up on the creepy doll idea and give the ghost a lair action with the dolls.

I’m running this as my first ever campaign TY so much for the help!

These ideas are top notch , thanks for all the advice!

I watched this before running it, because I couldn't understand why the players would follow the map (the map took a whole session indeed😂). One of my players wears the helm of comprehending languages (they gained in the second level adventure) so I used that to make them understand the raven, otherwise they just got a map to follow with some treasure it promises. I let the raven tease them with bits of information and then it left. I don't know if the helm makes u understand animals but no one in the party had the right spell for it, it worked out pretty well for my party this way. 👌 Thanks for the inspiration 😁

Thanks, for the great info. I'm going to wait and use this with the Van Richten's guide as part of a Ravenloft campaign.

Thank you for this! Sooooo helpful!

Loving this channel and his tips on running this adventure! I haven't run it yet but I plan on involving Xanthoria in the demise of this family. One of my party members is a shadow-like creature, so shes going to be the lost soul of one of the Brantifax daughters who was maybe sold by the mother to the druid, using her in his ritual to become a lich as his phylactery (replacing the pixie in Xanthoria's quest)

I hope your video for a Deep and Creeping Darkness comes out before I try to run it as a one-shot on Sunday haha I *almost* ran the Book of the Raven but saw a ton of people criticizing it for needing a lot of prep work as a one-shot since it's so disjointed.

I would love the video on the map but I might add it to my homebrew campaign and ignore the map as you suggested at the end.

For the wight fight I kept the 12 ghouls and used them to make a circle around the party as they fought the wight, only hitting them if they got close to the edge. And I made the warhorses a lair action on initiative count 1, where they will charge through the circle possibly hitting party members, this also freed up parts of the ghoul circle as the ghouls were run over from the charge. This gave the party an opportunity to run. Coming back to the mausoleum (which I made the portal on this side) and being blocked by the gargoyles protecting the entrance from anything getting out. Now they could either fight the gargoyles, or prove that they are not undead and don't belong in this plane.

Nicely done! I really like this! Heh… this could also be used as means for a blood hunter to get access to the wereraven transformation for the Order of the Lycan if the DM permits it. It would be a very difficult persuasion check, but dang it could lead to some interesting interactions down the road, maybe leading to getting access to the mansion as a base of operations for the party since one member of the party is now a member of the kindness of wereravens.

Thank you for your feedback on the map because I had the same thought: the map seemed like it could be a whole other adventure unto itself.

I'm going to be running this as a one-shot side quest within our current Lost Mines campaign. I'm going to use the map to guide the party to an area North of Mount Hotenow since there is a volcano on the map. If a character is familiar with the area (which on if them is) I say to them that while inspecting the map they realize the landmarks on it are familiar, but the names given are more references and code than actual names because the author wants to keep the chalet secret.

Thanks for that! When I read this adventure it seemed more like a location than an adventure. And I agree with you, as written there's no real reason for the PCs to venture into the Shadowfell. You've tied it all together very nicely!

I loved the amendments you suggest in this video. I took the idea of the Baroness being the big baddy but even then the story felt a little weak, but I lucked out! At the very beginning of the story I had the raven drop off the book and my Dragonborn fighter immediately snatched the raven and ate her, soul and all! So now I have the voice of a little girl in him helping guide them and keep them on track. I told the party their raison d'etre was fortune and fame so I'm going to make the big prize a ruby shaped heart worth a boat load, like retirement money! When they cross back the soul in the dragon born will plead with him to place the heart with her bones so her soul can be at rest, which will destroy the ruby. Ending on hopefully a tough moral decision for the party

Thank you for the maps and video, these minor changes really look to bring it all together. Do you have your DM notes for each room available on your discord or should I just write down your notes as the video is playing? I could only find the maps. Thank you again! Edit: to be more specific, looking for more information regarding what the journals say. Curious how much you’re dealing and how the party finds out how they move to the shadowfell.

Did you apply the Shadowfell Despair to your players when they crossed over?

What an incredible video! I was really confused by all those loose ends while reading through the adventure. But the changes you made are amazing and I'll definitely keep them for my party. Only question I have (and maybe you mentioned it in the video and I just happened to miss it) is: How does the party learn that they have to cross the shadowfell in order to lift the curse? Other than that amazing video. Thanks a lot. It was really helpful!

Is there a video on the map alone?

Homework done! #candlekeep

Anyone omit the wereravens for a one shot?

link to maps? didnt find it

Map video, please!!