Losing | Running the Game
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 มี.ค. 2017
- Episode 33: Losing sucks. It always sucks. But there's losing that's dramatic, and losing that makes you feel stupid.
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Had to do a Custom Thumbnail because the Autogenerated one JUST HAPPENED to grab part of the .03% of the video with the surprise guest in it. :(
Matthew Colville it actually shows me that cap every time I paused the video on my phone. It was an odd look.
Matthew Colville it's a good thing that you can make any thumbnail look good.
Matthew Colville how do you decide when the players are killed vs captured? or did you have all the fallen players make death saves and they were extremely fortunate?
Hey Matt. I'm trying to share the video on Twitter and it's grabbing the same surprise guest thumbnail. I deleted the tweet because I don't want to spoil the surprise. (I had to pause I was laughing so hard.)
Please add a list of all the movies you add clips from in the description?!
Players: OMG, we are surrounded!
Dwarf Players: Great, now we can attack in every direction!
"They’re on our right, they’re on our left, they’re in front of us, they’re behind us; they can’t get away from us this time." - Chesty Puller
Target rich environment
This whole room just became a "Free Fire Zone".
It's important for Bards to know Invisibility and Greater Invisibility, so they can survive to sing the tales of the party's heroism when everyone else inevitably dies.
Bards are the indisputable best class and this is no small part of why.
So Hondo from Star Wars Clonewars/rebels is basically a bard (claims to be a smuggler but maybe he just multiclassed)
@@wolfjack5802 well a smuggler is a profession not a class right? Same way anyone could go around and sing and dance but not everyone makes magic from it.
@@wolfjack5802
I'd say bard is THE classic for playing a smuggler. Cunning, sneaky and with a tongue of silver!
@@ShengFink I'm not sure there is any particular distinction between a profession and a class. Being a 'fighter' or a 'wizard' could be professions as well. My guess is that if you go look up a Star Wars RPG it probably has a smuggler class in it so you can be Han Solo x)
Its not retreating, its advancing in the opposite direction.
Players always win there are only 3 options:
They die so it doesnt matter.
They win so they win.
They run away to win another day.
Especially the orc players.
Tactical Withdrawal.
It wasn't an attack; it was scouting in force.
A strategic relocation
Best quote ever. "I think we all feel stupid all the time. You'd think we'd be used to it by now."
You think you're telling me how to play a game. Your actually giving great life advice
isn't that the game?
imefix you just lost
Dammit, you just made me loose to
KamiRecca bravo
:(
(damn, that's old!)
Imefix Oldies but Goldies ^^
“The next round, that player is killed.”
oh god, i certainly hope not
"Blame is one of those things that increases the more people there are to share it....unlike pizza."
Matt are you a wizard how do you come up with this stuff?
Decades of writing and DMing lol
I've played 3000 games of league, can confirm complaining starts after the first lost teamfight.
Oh you don't need a bad teamfight, some ganking, I mean harsh senseless camping, will do.
One bad engage bot lane and the adc is flaming the support and begging for a gank
People are far more toxic in an online game like league than face to face in a tabletop game like d&d
@@esoterra1024 lvl 1 laners wanting a gank be like:
That must be NA league xD EU league we have people complaining from champ select.
And I absolutely say "Marines, we are leaving!" 90% of the time when it's time to hightail it out of an encounter. I thought it was just me! So this is what it sounds like when doves cry.
Mike Olson is it "Marines" or "Drake"? My Deadlands group couldn't decide which. If you listen to the clip it sounds a awful like" Drake"
Rebekah Fischer No, it's definitely "Marines." Check the script!
Mike Olson I like Marines better anyways :)
How to get anyone encouraged to retreat: "I got one more plan, and if involves these . . . *slaps my leg* Nigerundayo party!
It's Drake, We are leaving in the subtitles.
Suddenly, Matt Mercer!
Colville rolled a 12 on the random encounter check.
Great look at experienced RPG game. But thank god I never kill any.....oh I cant get that out with a straight face.
"Building consensus relies, at least in part, some degree of enthusiasm and you're not going to get people enthusiastic about running away."
Truly fantastic, thank you!
I thought the five magic words were" F%$# THIS s%$# IM OUT!"
“The complaining starts when the losing starts.”
“Blame increases the more people there are.”
The reference to the Medusa was funny... considering one TPK'd the party the last time I ran D&D. They failed to notice the signs of her lair and waltzed right in
This is so common, even in experienced players...Had a room with double basalisks munching on food; they would have been distracted if the players did anything but: "I KICK THE DOOR DOWN AND CHARGE WHATEVER IS INSIDE XD."
Sometimes I don't get it....and that's why it's so fun to write DnD!
So called downer episodes are important. they cover topics that will come up and that are, in many ways, more important than some of the more creative aspects of the hobby.
nice camio from from Matt Mercer's.
What was that about? Was he actually yelling at Colville here?
This is about a month late, but...it was a joke/cameo since Colville mentions their occasionally conflicting styles of DMing. They're good friends and it would be crazy for him to get actually angry over this.
I'd like to see them play together. Colville should be on Critical Role! lol
@@2Infinit2 He was! Technically. In spirit. Also in the form of an omnipotent greater deity to facilitate a Battle Royale
@@alexhammond9343 This is 8 months late but thanks! I figured he wasn't actually yelling at Colville. I just wasn't sure if this was taken from some video out of context clip from some Mercer video or if he made it just for Colville to use.
Most of the party wipes I've DMed is because one person decided to go fight someone else. The player had a plan - sneak up behind another group of enemies and take them out single-handedly. Not only does it not work, it brings that other group of enemies into the fight, who usually achieve a pincer movement that kills off the other characters.
The other reason is because the players don't consider the tropes: We're fighting a werewolf, I have a silver dagger and a magic whip . . . I punch it!
Silly DM, Gronk distrusts magic, only thing you can rely is yourself!
Why did you look so happy saying "They fail to stop the assassination attempt" XD
Wouldn't you look happy too? I know I would! xD
Autumn because that means a war! :D
I am running a campaign, and actually finished a session 50 minutes ago, where the players are Monsters. They decided to infiltrate a human filled fortress, and fail terribly, ending up with their asses in a cage, about to be shipped off to an arena where they will have to fight against other monsters to maybe get out.
This reminded me of my first D&D character who died in an impossible fight against a level 20 general from the campaign's main villain, we were lvl 5.
Our entire party was falling apart, two of our players were trying to heal a dragon we were trying to rescue while we fought this general. He was capable of taking down 4 characters with one of his combos dividing his attacks.
My character is an Aarakocra Ranger, I kept my hp full for the entire fight while holding this enemy down using necrotic arrows to cause poison like damage. By the final turn we had, he had taken down my party by hitting each one ONCE, and taking their hp to 0, so when I had to get his attention so the dragon would be fully healed and out of danger, one final necrotic arrow to the face and managed to draw his attention towards me on the other side of the room.
He unleashed his entire monk magic items combo on my character, I knew what I was going against, the entire combo was going to kill me, the DM had a worried expression for my character, he said without throwing his dice and doing the math that "oh yeah, uuuuuuh.... you are unconscious!" I told him to do the rolls, I knew what could happen and took the risk. Ultimately, he did even more than he anticipated, brutally killing my ranger, but at the same time this general died from the same poison I caused him, both characters dying in front of each other.
I will never forget that fight, my Aarakocra died and that got a reaction from the DM and my party, they legitimately cared for her, she was pretty much "momma bird". It was an epic encounter that will live forever in my D&D experience.
They managed to revive her afterwards but at a high cost, she is still fighting and I can't wait for the next session.
DatBritishMexican Oh neat, my first 5e character was an arracocra ranger. He died fighting Strahd at 3rd level after fighting the party fighter twice. The party warlock made a deal with Strahd to get her and the rogue out in exchange for the soul of the fighter and the location of Van Ritchen. The fighter got taken over and we fought him, a zombified version of him, and then Strahd. We took him down to 4 hit points. It was awesome. It is important to note that this was DM machinations so I don't think that it would count as spoilers to the spoiler consious.
WTF is that DM doing by dropping lvl 20 enemies into the game against lvl 5s? That's just sloppy game design. As for "you weren't supposed to attack him" logic, a good DM assumes that the players characters will attack anything you put in front of them.
@@arandombard1197 yeah, that is something you assume. however, the players need to be taught that there are some fights you can't win, and plenty of fights you have to run from. the fact that they hadn't run after he had killed a bunch of them in one hit means that they WANTED to stay and fight. that probably created a very memorable moment of all of them trying desperately to heal this dragon that the general wanted to defeat/capture, and they all knew what they were getting themselves into. after op's character completely died, it also killed the MAIN VILLAIN OF THE ENTIRE CAMPAIGN which was probably a really sweet moment, especially because a good DM in this situation would have teased this villain beforehand as characters who are level 5 have normally experienced quite a bit in-game. that is a legendary story to tell and that makes this DM pretty fantastic.
@@beardalaxy As Matt has mentioned before, players don't run or surrender. Its heroic fantasy, defeating impossible odds is an expected part of the experience and players will stand their ground no matter how much you spell out that they are outnumbered, even if means a TPK.
@@arandombard1197 idk, the players I'm running for have ran a couple times and approached the enemies differently.
Death, does not always have to feel unsatisfying. I'm fond of the suicidally honorable and somewhat foolhardy hero
I've died to stop a dragon from burning a village. (GM told me i would die if i tried. I told him that it was obvious)
I've died to save a group of commoners from being slaughtered by the military i served. (executed for treason by another player)
I've died to slow the drow invasion into the kingdom of Saragost. (I died with three thousand soldiers and a great fortress)
I've died to allow my party to escape from a dragon that would have killed us all. (His name was steve, i had befriended him before the fire sorcerer attacked)
I've died to temporarily become god and stop the demonic invaders from conquering my world. (Harold is survived by his son though, so it's not all bad)
All of these deaths were dramatic, they all mattered. My character died well, he fought for what he believed in and his death accomplished something
I've had deaths were nothing was accomplished but that's the definition of life, you die in the end
It's not that dying can't suck, i have had plenty were dying does indeed suck but sometimes, death is the most dramatic and enjoyable outcome
Sam Kemp the one time I played an adventure I died trying to suicide bomb by fireball. It was epic. And the thing is, I made it dramatic. I could have tried to run through the surrounding 4 warriors, but there was no point. I was low on HP, and I needed LOS to attack the enemies wizard. I got surrounded the next turn. I failed my spell check to cast while in combat and I got critted 2 times.
The game Dungeon World did something really cool with this. Every class had a ”death move” that triggered if you died, like the mage releasing one final massive spell, the druid warping the area to their native climate, etc.
Basically meant that heroic last stand moments weren’t just cool narratively, but mechanically effective. You didn’t just fail a roll and lost your warrior, his sword is now infused with some of his legendary strength.
L
Absolute Truth: Sometimes the best win is a beautiful death.
@@metallsnubben stealing that, thanks
its scarry how every time you upload a "running the game" video is perfectly describes my last sesion of D&D. It is beyond perfect
Best line “Losing doesn’t feel as bad as feeling stupid, which is funny. We all feel stupid all the time, you think we’d be used to it by now”
"Retrograde progress" Awesome phrase that I'll have to start using!
I'm just going to create fog or a pool of water for no reason in my campaign now. Just to mess with players.
Great video and I really love the tips! Thanks, Matt C!
It's hard and easy to break the rules of magic in d&d. I was running Curse of Strahd and the party entered the amber temple. They took the alternate entrance and fought a gladiator and a bunch of barbarians. They got a good bit of resistance, but they won. they then entered the entry hall. And a lone arcanaloth, using the inside of a statue's head (within a cloud of magical darkness) attacked them. It had a lot of powerful spells (chain of lightning took most of the party down to half health). The party managed to knock the statue down instead of trying to attack the Arcanaloth while it was in a position of great advantage. However, the fighter got Banished. The Arcanaloth can cast invisibility at will. The party was frustrated that they could never see the Arcanaloth even though it was casting spells while invisible, i ruled that if it can cast invisibility at will, concentration to maintain it is unnecessary because it can cast this spell effortlessly. They didn't really like it, but when they got the Arcanaloth within 10 hp, it made itself visible and brought the fighter back so the party would let him live. The Arcanaloth, to me, didn't have a reason to fight these people to the death.
Hahahaha oh jeez, the number of times I've had the "When you killed my character..." "Uh, I didn't kill your character. The Orc Chieftain did" exchange with my players makes me laugh. Glad I'm not the only one.
Heh. I several times had "The Chosen One" too. Every time when there's an enemy close to 1HP, or within a certain death by single blow - and party just fails against all odds to land a hit. It's clear that their enemy is The Chosen One.
"The player is always reacting..."
That is so perfectly worded. Thank you for putting words to my long-time thoughts! The people who make battles a drag in my games are the ones that don't think much about what they're doing, don't realize RP is for fighting too, and that combat can be really fun if you don't just take the dungeon like a sidescroller beat em up.
Watching your videos represent a +2 Wisdom Ability Score Increase.
And a +6 Charisma....... IF YA KNO WAT I MIN ( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)( ͡° ᴥ ͡°)
(I don't even know what I mean, just... jesus christ, sorry for the cringe dude lol)
I've watched your Running the Game videos several times, because I love listening to you talk as background while I do other things (ADHD sucks, silence drives me completely nuts). You're also quite the GM, and you've given me more than a few ideas and helped me to refine my own GMing style, so thanks for all that.
Having watched all of Matt's running the game series multiple times over, I think the most valuable observation I have taken away from them is that Matt really wants his players to buy him pizza. Lol. It's like an Easter Egg in several of the videos. Love it!
that mercer cameo
every time there is a new video I'm like that n64 kid on Christmas morning!
"OH MY GOD! MATT COLLLLLVILLE NEW VIIIIDEO! AHHHHHHHHHHH"
You too? That was totally me Saturday morning, lol!
since this is 37 of 52 in this series, I have lots more to view YAYYYY. After that, I'll check out Matts other stuff.
Your point about trying to get consensus about retreating reminded me of a moment in a game a few months ago. The party was gambling with a rich guy in a tavern, and one of the players was caught cheating. We all drew our weapons on the guy, but then half the patrons in the room drew weapons on us. Every single player at that table just went "H'Okay! How far to the door?". We span on a dime. In a heartbeat we were all on the same page. It really did feel like we'd achieved something amazing, even though we hadn't done anything yet.
My character still fell unconscious in the fucking doorway, but we all escaped with our lives.
I have a friend who is a power gaming storyteller. He will take 3 to 4 weeks to build a character, pouring over splatbooks in order to flush put every detail, and then righting a 3 page backstory complete with highlighted plothooks. If his character dies, he's done for that session. But when his character lives... man is it epic.
I love these videos but hearing that Matt plays/played league gave me such severe whiplash. Especially since I watched this vid minutes after chain inting a whole ranked game. Wild stuff! Gotta sub now!
Your movie clips are always on point, Matt. Love them.
Thank you for this Matt. I just started to DM my first game last weekend and it's for all completely new people. I'm taking them through short one-off adventures for a couple weeks to get them used to how the mechanics and game works. I plan on treating this as a "tutorial" for them and opening up the game to a sandbox after a few weeks. the problem I was facing was I made these one shots pretty easy and kind of hand hold them through, as subtly as possible of course, but once we start the game for real ill be much less forgiving. This petty much puts it all out there and I plan to have them watch this so they can understand the fact that they might, and probably will, lose every now and then. Your videos have been more than I could have hoped for, and I feel more confident and excited about being a DM now that I am equipped with all of these ideas and insights you provide. Keep at it, you are our hero sir, and I plan on grabbing your books this weekend.
Hi, I've spent the last few months trying to prepare a game for a group of 5 friends. None of us have ever played before and have wanted to for a long time. We finally arranged a date today to get together and play so I just want to say thank you as you're videos have been extremely helpful with making a game. I have a lot of self confidence problems and was initially worried about running a game but after watching your videos I feel a lot more confident about the world I have created. I'm really looking forward to it and I'm pretty sure that I would be dreading the responsibility without watching your videos. Thank you again. I'm pretty sure I'll be using your videos to help me for a while.
It's not "Retreating" it's "Advancing in the opposite direction"
Nice video as always... Just one point that I disagree on (Well, not really. But one I'm going to mention.) In my games, usually the fog is just fog. The full moon is just a full moon, or maybe it's a red herring. The black moon? Same thing. Usually, the pond is just a pond, the river just a river. Don't fear it. Go for a swim. And then, the fifth pool you use, there is a flesheating beast. At the riverside, there is a beautiful lady (Or man, depending on what your character is into), asking you to join her on a swim. The already dark night with the black moon grows even darker, and shadows crawl from the forest towards your camp.
And then, the next black moon, you will be afraid. You will watch every shadow closely. Every caw of an owl will be like an announcement of doom. But nothing will happen.
I agree with that. I always explain the environment in a neutral way and I never attempt to get my players to do anything, I let them decide (don't get me wrong I joke around sometimes like "hey, run in the front door, it will work out fine!" but I'm clearly joking and they can do what they want and I try not to do that too often.
I rarely use creepily unnatural weather effects. The closest I get is every night of the full moon (of the larger moon in my campaign, where the gods live) there is a good chance someone will see a white owl kill a small rodent and fly off with it. - My players have no idea why it keeps happening, and I am still figuring it out too. I imagine it will be important to the plot eventually.
this is something i wish more horror games used.
let the player feel like something is safe and comfortable, and then strip that comfort away, only to not bring back what stripped it away for a while. it will make them incredibly shocked, then incredibly uneasy. just as they are starting to get used to it again, do something different that will shock them and strip away that comfort once more.
I do this with doors in dungeons. Every door us just a door. Until it's a jar.
Matthew, thank you for these great video's. I just found your channel yesterday and ended up binge watching all of the running the game series until 4 am this morning. You have also convinced me to dust off all my D&D books and look around for a game, it's been 20+ years since I played last, and watching these makes me wonder why I ever stopped playing in the first place. Maybe if I had a DM like you I would have never stopped.
Matt, love the videos. Absolutely epic advice. I've binged your entire "Running The Game" series over the last few days that I'm at the point where the internal narrator in my head is now you. Looking forward to more of your content!
Great episode as always, but it reminded me of a story from a campaign I was in that I think in part explains the mindset of people who keep going after their resources run out. We were just doing a low level dungeon and ran low on hit points and spells, so we decided to rest in one of the side rooms before taking on where we assumed the final boss was. We awoke and set out, finding much harder traps than were elsewhere in the dungeon, but hey, route to the big bad guy, makes sense. When we finally get there, bruised and battered from the slew of traps, we find an empty room. No invisibility, no hiding, definitely no loot, just empty.
Turns out that this was one of those "the bad guys want to win" scenarios, so during their nightly patrols they found that we had killed a good chunk of the dungeon, so they packed everything up and set up the nastiest traps they had before leaving. We were decidedly less risk-averse after that.
Grettings from Switzerland Mr. Colville,
As someone who was forced into the seat of the DM twenty years ago (I just wanted to play my charming swashbuckling ladies man and so i ginded my teeth...) and grew into the role more and more over the years to the point where i get the most fun when i can host a great experience for others, I really appreciate what you are providing with this Vlog to all new DMs needing advice and afraid of failing. When a player shows interest in trying out the seat behind the screen and wants advice i always lead then to your videos.
Keep up the good work and thank you for your efforts.
Matt, This is by far one of the best video on D&D I have ever seen. Thank you for taking the time to make it. I DM for a group of 5 level 8 characters and the concept of losing is one I have struggled with for sometime, the result unfortunately is encounters that I feel are too under powered. Well done, this episode has gained my subscription and support of your channel.
Matt your videos always have such an astounding amount of replay value. You are like a teacher whom I haven't had the graces to meet in a classroom. Maybe, someday at a convention this will change. Kudos on inspiring this particular player to become a DM; all of your hard work has paid off. Keep on keeping on.
"The side that's complaining is always the losing side" You sure you've played a lot of league of legends?
Yeah, I was gonna say. A lot of players still complain before, during, and after winning the game. Some people are just so picky about their fun.
A message to say thanks ! In recent months my DM seemed to have became burned out and not wishing our small group to break I thought maybe I would try my hand at it and was instantly terrified as I rarely put myself out there like that . But after watching 90 Episodes of Critical Role and Urealms Live I sucked it up and began to plan. I discovered your channel and without it I dont know that I would have done quite as well. To cut this story off it turned out to be a great success and I am looking forward to continuing their adventures !!! So again Thank you, the perspectives that you give made this all a great deal easier and now there is one more DM in the world !
Thank you for making a video for this topic, I just found it today and it came to me in the right moment, I just lost a character that was the first character that I got to be creative with, and is very dear to me, and now I have watched this my Wis just upgraded +2. Please don't stop making these!
Matt, It's been 4 weeks. We miss you, come back soon!
Another great Video, Thanks Matt.
I await your Kickstarter with great enthusiasm. I keep checking for it
I see a pile of Tales from the Yawning Portal in the background.
Michael Schmidt - Yes...how dare! :p
He's showing off... :P
I'm sensing a 90-minute walk to the gaming store in my near future!
Edward, when i was a kid, those frequent walks back & forth from the D&D store was the exercise that saved me from childhood obesity! :)
Clips from all of my favorite movies! (I just watched the source of the "5 magic words" this weekend.
So I just watched all of these and all of the campaign diaries and now i'm just waiting for more. Love your stuff!
I can't truly express how much I enjoy your videos, Mat.
The talking points presented are well considered and their delivery is superb.
Wonderful stuff. I love to just hear you speak. perhaps I am not much of an internet user, but I have never seen "talking head" style vlogs with anyone nearly as eloquent, insightful and sincere as your videos, Mat.
This is an art, dude.
Awesome to see another video out! Thanks Matt!
This was a godsend. I've had these moments as a dm and never know how quite to handle them
I've watched all of MC's videos, and this is my new favourite. Excellent work!
Your videos never fail to inspire, thank you for all of your incredible advice
Great episode :) I am HUGELY surprised and happy to hear that you'll be continuing the campaign diaries at long last, and that game streams are returning!!!
Last session was the first time my party had to retreat. Right now, they're all level 6 with a loadout of magic goodies, but a boosted up Kruthik hive proved to be too much for them. The creatures had taken over a mine, had a lot of Aliens vibes going. Things were going well until the cleric peeked into a nest room that ended up wasting a lot of time and resources to save that character from all the monsters in that side room.
Eventually, they got to the room where the boss was at, a homebrewed Kruthik Matriarch. I was excited to do pilot this huge alien queen of a monster, but the party was worse for wear than anticipated. They all decided to run for the exit and take the lift, they figured whatever follows them on the lift would be better than facing down the queen. The sorcerer blasted some eggs on our way out, our hexblade made a timely Aliens reference and it made for a really exciting and tense moment.
All of this brought the party into perspective. Their recklessness almost cost them and at where they are in their lives, they did want to die in some whole eaten by monsters. Like you said, this moment added a lot of drama and tension to the situation.
Once they made it down there and realized they couldn't handle the boss fight I was disappointed in myself for making the dungeon too hard. But after the session the players were delighted with how tense things got and everybody still can't wait for next session.
Everyone hates the word retreat. Thats why I use "tactical fallback"
5:42 took me by such a surprise, I couldn't stop laughing for a little while
Thanks so much for these videos Matt! Because of your videos I got interested in D&D, became a dungeon master, and created a D&D club at my school that has now become quite popular. Thanks so much and keep doing what you do! It helps out me and all of my club members a lot. :D
Great video! I love every movie you clipped, Matt. The biggest take away for myself as a GM from the video is the advice of letting players be pissed, upset, disappointed. I have this need as the GM to make sure the players are having fun. That's part of the job description. And my experience is that players will be forgiving of your mistakes and flaws as a GM if you are a fun one.
Being frustrated, disappointed or let down usually isn't fun, so when that happens I have this panicked urge to fix things right away or fudge things to help them. But in the broader context, difficulty can allow for some truly epic moments that make the entire experience more fun or at the very least, memorable. So I need to let them be frustrated. The guy taught me to GM and introduced roleplaying to me always said "don't be afraid to challenge your players because you are more likely to underestimate them than overestimate them."
Also, it's just good advice to leave someone alone immediately after they become really upset about anything. Sometimes people just need a minute.
My group is currently running through Curse of Strahd, and we got over confident with low resources. Needless to say half of our party died before the other half decided to retreat. While annoyed, it was totally our overconfidence that killed us. Love your videos, and constantly give me inspiration while playing der' en' der'. Love your videos, and have enjoyed both your books. Keep up the good work!
Hey, Matt - your awesome. I just found your videos on running D&D. Your DM tips validate much of what I am already doing and inspire me to do even better. Thank you!
Hey Matthew thanks for putting out all of these great videos. I'm getting back into RPGs (Pathfinder being my poison of choice) and was worried about the 4 years I've been out of the game effectively. Your videos are a great help in getting my campaign pieced together and making me feel a bit more confident behind the screen.
Yes, I definitely want to see how you prep an adventure. This is another great video, Matt. You made great points about managing the personalities at the table.
"What are the five magic words."
*plays clip*
I almost had an asthma attack, laughing that hard. WORTH!
Thanks Matt for all you do! Don't stress about the videos, get them out when you can.
"End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take."
Well, after never having played D&D before, but being very interested in starting, I did some searching through youtube...
Sure enough, this channel popped up amongst a cluster of "how to's" when it came to DM'ing... And after watching the entire "Running the Game" series over two (rather long) days sittings, I must say, all I really want to do now is find a group to play with...
Although almost everything mentioned in this series draws back to D&D, there are more tips and hooks on how to craft an intriguing story, and memorable characters across any form of media...
You sir, have more than earned my sub, and hopefully I'll be able to relate your stories of triumph and tragedy from my own characters soon.
Those turn-the-tide moments are just the best, especially when you realize you brought the right tool.
We got stuck fighting a flesh golem at low level. It crits the rogue and he's down. It lays into the fighter like Ivan Drago. I'm a lightning wizard so my offensive magic is useless. The fighter's got one more blow's worth of hit points, then the golem is going to turn its attention to the cleric or me. We calculate we'll each last about a round. Things are looking grim. Everyone is scanning their inventory, reading their spells one more time. Suddenly I realize I've got a one-shot _glitterdust_ item I had made because that was all I could afford. I make my Arcana check and remember the golem's list of immunities does not include blindness. Untargeted effects bypass spell immunity, and -- POOF! Covered in dust, it proceeds to miss its next five attacks, which gives us the time we need to salvage the situation.
Lightning and teleportation are cool, but those "turns out I've got just the thing" moments have been my favorite part of playing a wizard.
Really looking forwards to the preping episode because thats the module you inspired me to run!
I started with the delian tomb from your videos, ran my own mini dungeon, and went straight into Against the Cult of the Reptile God. It will be interesting to see how you have preped it differently to me as my players are about to journey into the swamp!
Thanks for everything Matt keep up the good work!
Insightful as usual! Looking forward to the livestream.
Awesome, inspiring stuff! Good to have you back.
Editing and reference game is on point for this video! Great work!
Thanks for this Matt. I (my PC) almost died last week, it realy feelt like loosing, even though I lived to see a nether day. but this video helped me get back in the saddle again, so thanks!
once again great video, can't wait to see your studio up and running. Can't wait to see you live on twitch, glad I found this channel.
Matt you just made my entire week with this video. You're a bro
its good to see that no matter how busy you are, you will still upload a video now and then. Appreciate it Matt your videos are fantastic, keep it going :)
Belive it or not, watching your videos became such a habit that I now put them at the same level of my favourite series, and I learn a lot in the process
There is so much truth in this video. I love the specific examples. Great Video!
Started watching recently and i have to say i dont think you could have hit the nail on the head any harder, as someone who is quick to anger and to blame i found your reasoning of the emotions the players (like me) feel to be precise and at 16:09 you summed up precisely what ive been trying to tell my DM for months. sending this vid to my DM right now, wonderful insight mate subscribed!
I love your videos but I think this is one of your best and most important. I never go in with the intention of putting my players in this position but I know they'll sometimes put themselves there. So, I've made a point of trying to get them to watch it.
Love your work, mate.
Always enjoy your videos and find them very interesting. Looking forward to eveything you have coming up!
Man, so exited to watch you and your players in another game. Even if it's a one-shot it will be awesome to watch.
You look very tired Matt. Hope you're in good health.
Thank you for making these videos. They help me with our groups sessions.
Really great video! Thank you Matt! :)
Thank you for doing these. I only wish you had been doing them back when I was stuck in a rather poor pathfinder game.
You made me laugh out loud THREE times! It's been too long, thanx alot.
Law
So many good clips and that surprise guest! Great vid.
Really hyped for that One-Shot adventure stream!
Love those five magic words Matt, I laughed hard on that one.
I'm really excited about watching you stream some D&D! I hope everything goes well. Also thanks for this video series. It's been really helpful to me!