You can do these things too! You totally can. You don't have to work on voices or anything like that, Just practice what your major NPC would say in such a circumstance. Their mannerisms, the kind of person they are… You'll give them a unique voice all their own kind of by default. Your players won't care, because all they'll hear is the NPC anyway.
This is correct! We don’t all need to be excellent at voices etc, but having a mindset of how the major NPCs feel and think will help their “voice” come out even if it just sounds like you.
Nobody begins as an expert! Use you strengths to your advantage and keep practicing in areas you feel weak. Do what you enjoy and enjoy what you are doing. Growth comes from experience and repeating what works, while changing what doesn’t. You will be fine! Good luck!
That prep in the journal is impressive. This amount of time spent probably makes it an amazing social encounter.... aaaand why my games consist primarily around dungeon diving and plenty of combat, lol.
PDM is awesome, But I'd prefer yer table to this scenario. I would play the guy who waits outside with the horses in case everything goes sideways. I would cook the pizza and grab beers while the rest of the table does this.
Fantastic advice! Bonus points for including the character voice tips. Quite simply the best DM tip that I did not know that I needed today. Great video! Cheers!
D&D is often played by socially awkward people. Not having real life social skills can make both role playing those situations and adjudicating them tough... especially for young people who are getting started with the hobby. Having an explicit rule set that is just as detailed as the one for combat would be an interesting addition to the game.
Yeah. With low wisdom/charisma players, allowing for more social rolls is actually super important when they're playing high wisdom/charisma characters. They may not pick up on the queues you're putting down and may not know what would be effective to say or do in the situation.
I'm not socially awkward, but I don't enjoy "acting". I will quote characters, but it is in the 3rd person. You don't have to be socially awkward to not want to do voices and staging. If I want to have a conversation, it will be with the real people at the table with me. Not with their minis on the battle map. There is a non-roleplaying solution to every situation.
Not everyone can, or enjoys, actual roleplaying a social encounter. If they do, I will lower the DC or even give them the pass. Non-roleplayers will opt to just paraphrase what they are trying to accomplish and ask to roll the dice. I am ok with it accommodating their needs. Oddly, it is those people that usually come up with the best moments during roleplay. lol
There's also a big difference between role playing and acting. Saying "my character asks the Duke about his beautiful art, hoping to get him talking about something he loves to distract him." Is just as valid as actually acting that out. I personally really enjoy the acting part, but I fully understand it's not for everyone.
Superb impersonation, I love how you prep conversations, I do that too but I think for me it evolved through enjoying pondering how the NPC thinks and what their drives are etc, that and a large dollop of nerdy enjoyment over the creative process. Great adventure, I love the freeform way you run them without answers or solutions, just the setup and the backgrounds of the NPCs. Superb stuff as usual.
I loved your Jeremy Irons 'voice'. That is definitely a memorable NPC voice. Your games really sound cool. I wish I could be in one of those. Your level of preparation is inspiring. I'm jealous of your players. As always, thanks for the video. You should already have a million subscribers. Your channel is the best D&D channel on TH-cam in my opinion.
This is really helpful advice. Setting up a scene broken down to three easy steps. For me a fourth is missing: opposition. Who is in the way of the party and their objectives? What is their motivation, their resources and their goal? Especially when there is some kind of social contest like two minor nobles gaining favour of the Lord or something like that it is good to know. Great prep BTW. And the Jeremy Irons impression is magnificent. What I like best in that scene is the integration of Marianne's background. There is a direct personal involvement and a complcation as the host may not find out who she really is. I love it.
I like the statement of a high charisma score bot being a mind control. I run a Dungeon World game for my friends and one is quite precocious. She plays a teenaged magic user that thinks quite highly of herself as all yeens are wont to do. We had a small social encounter at the library where she likes to hang out because she found a room with a magic scroll she wanted to read but it was under glass. She got caught trying to get it and was quickly ushered out of the room and building by the head librarian and the guard. The party was trying to find her amd so I had them show up just as the librarian was tearing up the mage's library card. The mage tried to charm the guard to let her back in and succeeded in charming him. However, the guard was not going to go against what his primary purpose was, which was too guard over the library and keep it safe. Later on I created another adventure for them so the mage could get her card back and get in good graces of her favorite spot. I had the same guard come over and chat with her clearly stilled charmed. He actually helped in keeping her safe when the social turned into a fighting encounter. The player was a little put out that she couldn't just charm her way past people who clearly had an objective in mind, which was too keep her out of the building. But in the ling run it turned out to be a much better story for them.
Seen a person playing a gnome bard that tried to " Charm " a drow, the drow laugh and and started to carry the gnome around on her hip and talk to it as her " pet." Random player, " Uh, .. that's not how the Charm spell works ." Person PCing the drow, " Don't let the rules get into the way of a good story."
That's another important point i wish more people knew about when it comes to skills, the failure state doesn't need to be a failure. The rouge picking locks can simply take minutes, it doesn't need to mean they failed or it's impossible for them.
One of the reasons I enjoy PDM's content is because is He is not only good at GMing (analogy being Strategy), but also Meta GMing (Strategy of strategy).
Professor, excellent advice and guidance. I will be using LOT (Location, Objective, and Tone)going forward when I develop my social encounters. I have a good mix of dungeon crawl and city encounters. This advice will be valuable.
I just want to say it’s a breath of fresh air to see your method and level of prep. I feel like on most of social media, DM’s who prep like this are looked on poorly - “you should just come up with 10 secrets and improv!” The “lazy” approach has never worked for me - not criticizing people who do it, but I think about the NPC’s, their motivations, what they know, what their disposition will be to the players, etc. That takes time and effort, but it makes for a better game to me. (Obviously there’s still a ton of improv too.)
I had an Alchemist who would have been SO for smuggling a ton of things for this social encounter. He wore Celestial armor, noted to be so thin and light, it would fit underneath normal clothes. Those "clothes" he wore were actually the light Glamered armor he had before obtaining the better Celestial one; there is no benefit to wear two armors, but he was vain and the illusion effect let him appear like an immaculate dandy even in the middle of dungeons. He could lend this armor to the other PC masquerading as a guest, and wear his Celestial underneath a mundane costume. We do NOT expect things to get ugly, but now we are confident to be safe if it does. As for potential weapons, he would need only to carry a small vial of alchemical liquid that becomes a makeshift sword for a few minutes after breaking open. If he's allowed to have his full level (18) for this, he can craft anything alchemical within a round, which should not be THAT difficult at a banquet and with his ludicrous bonus. Oh, and a spell allowing him to be at two places at the same times, although one ends up staring at a distance while the other acts. He was also itching for an occasion such as this to flex his ludicrous alchemical poison skills. Let's say we need a distraction. He could easily have on his person a flask of "alcohol" filled with poison. My character was immune to all poisons, naturally, but to anyone else being invited to share a sip? The poor NPC would fail my ludicrously high DC, then only know 5 more minute of bliss unawareness before the onset period ended, at which Lord Whitepants would then become sickened for, idk, does 2d4 minutes seem reasonable? And here, "sickened" means immediate, alchemically-induced, supernaturally fueled diarrhea!! You want a distraction?? I give you the most discussed embarrassment of the YEAR! I give you an explosion!! A show of pure horror nobody, NOBODY will be able to take their eyes from! You think Bards can Fascinate? I WILL SHOW YOU FASCINATION!! HAHAHAHA!!!
Thank you for this video! This is a topic I've explored many times via Nerdarchy's website and it is awesome to see a respected YT voice discussing social encounters this way.
Loved this video! Roleplaying is a beautiful thing if you allow it to happen. If you constantly press for die rolls in encounters, I honestly believe you are completely loosing out on the best and funniest parts of the rpg. Great Video Professor! And great preparation and voices!
James C. Just like XP, I only give channels a thumbs up when they've earned it. This Dungeon Craft video is one of the most well presented to date so it has earned both a thumbs up and a comment to help feed the algorithm. There is definitely a reason Comic Book Guy is funny and I thought your impersonation of Jeremy Irons was fantastic. Take a level Professor.
Love this, great ideas. I enjoy non-combat encounters but mostly they are just info dumps, or pre-planned plot movers. This inspires me to create more 'robust' social encounters. Thank You.
Great vid ! More than social, these are good tips for running urban scenes. Creatures from Fairy-Tale and Myth 5e has some sweet social combat rules if you want some crunchy non-reductionist approach.
The real trick with this is keeping things moving, and not getting lost in the weeds of the ins and outs of each NPC. Rather than track it all, probably better to just let the dice decide when a player asks.
Excellent advice. I also like the ideas presented in a social encounter video on the Runehammer channel. Combining these techniques would make for a fun, dynamic scene.
I would have the players who have to pose as servents later disguise themselves as masked criminals who bust in and hold the place hostage, still the wine and a lot of other things so as to hide the fact that the wine was the real target, and as they make there escape hide the wine in a place the party members who attended can later retrieve it without suspicion.
I generally take Easter eggs a step further. If my players are looking for a cask of amontillado, you can bet there's a villain who will imprison them behind a brick wall if they get caught.
I have always liked the idea of "social combat" with a quips or rebuttals mechanic but have not seen any system that doesn't get overly complex and devolve into the 5e version of Robert's Rules of Order.
Charisma for insult, bully, flatter, bluff, along with diplomatic business deals. Wisdom to control your temper when dealing with insults and intimidation. In the court of Queen Elizabeth I, daughter of King Henry VIII. The nobles were so prone to fist/ knife fights within the royal palace they made a law if you fought on the grounds you get you right hand cut off. Few years later they moved it up to have you forearm cut off just above the elbow. So, .. social combat can have some grim results. But you could get two drunks at a party to get into a fist fight for fun.
As usual enjoyed your perspective. Couldn't help being distracted by the thought that in a burg full of thieves , there would be no better occasion or distraction to execute burglaries elsewhere than the biggest event of the year - Say for instance from the players' stash of favourite equipment that they couldn't take to the ball !
@@swaghauler8334 I actually house rulled that bard magic works off Intelligence and not charisma like in 5th ed (because thats just bad design to use 1 stat so heavily) all magic is with intelligence so bards are already nerfed
Going to jump in an be a massive pedant by Tlusty's Martial Ethic book argues that in late medieval/ early modern German cities it was a requirement for citizens to be armed or have arms prepared.
I have to say I watch your videos often. As a DM I agree with a lot of what you say, I differ on some opinions but that's just my style. THIS, however, this topic I agree with you 100% and can't express enough how every player and DM should hear this, especially if you are new.
And here I was thinking that "How to improve your social encounter" was going to be a ten second video where the Professor merely set a bottle of wine on the counter in front of him and grinned at the camera. … "Montresor! For the love of God!" Watching your players go through this encounter is going to be great fun-I haven't yet gotten that far into it, but it's a great group you've got. 🤣 But certainly it would have to be a just about purely social encounter. The weapons of battle would have no place at a party of this sort. There might be knives and the like just in case a bandit should accost someone coming or going (if often without much skill in using them!) In fact the worst possible thing might be someone finding out that any sort of violence whatsoever had been done because only the host is likely to be able to bring in people with ready access to such things and they'd start looking at people's identities and stories.
Very solid advice about social checks and how WoTC intended them. Several of my players are shocked when they realize that their awesome checks only slightly shifted an attitude.
My NPCs want things. If the players have those things, a trade is almost certain. If they can help the NPCs get what they want, then a trade is likely.
Ugh rewatching this series makes me want to run a campaign so bad. Not having time to run one on top of my regular group in which I'm currently a player because it's not yet my turn to DM is killing me inside.
Masked figures look like they are part of the Carnevale patrician gang published by TT Combat. The serving staff include minis from Wizkids (tavern/bar staff in particular).
Hey, professor! Great video. Have you tried adapting some of the Cypher System (Numenéra) main mechanics for your social encounters? They could work great for the type of game you run. Keep up your great videos!
No doubt. When coming up with NPCs on the spot, I just describe their most prominent feature and noticeable piece of gear, and make sure everyone's got goals, means and fears. The rest tends to sort itself out.
There is unfortunately no substitute for preparation. I wish that wasn't true but it is. Even the ability to improvise a game comes through preparation explicitly (in that you literally prep to improvise) and implicitly (in that you are drawing on your experience as a DM to leverage past preparation and games).
Addendum: Not only should dice rolls be limited to a reasonable chance of failure, but also a reasonable chance of success. There's no point of letting your players roll dice for a Charisma check when there is no reasonable success that is possible.
Wait, what happened to the finale? I remember there being a video about how to end a campaign that was also the finale to this series. Did YT purge it for some reason? Edit: nvm, found it, just not included in the playlist
No bodies?!
*terminator voice* "I swear I will not kill anyone."
*stabs everyone in the legs*
Lol good one!
He'll live.
Scenario: No weapons, no killing!
All monk party: Lol.
Me: I’m a good DM.
PDM: /jeremyironsspeech from memory.
Me: Never mind.
You can do these things too! You totally can. You don't have to work on voices or anything like that, Just practice what your major NPC would say in such a circumstance. Their mannerisms, the kind of person they are… You'll give them a unique voice all their own kind of by default. Your players won't care, because all they'll hear is the NPC anyway.
This is correct! We don’t all need to be excellent at voices etc, but having a mindset of how the major NPCs feel and think will help their “voice” come out even if it just sounds like you.
Nobody begins as an expert!
Use you strengths to your advantage and keep practicing in areas you feel weak.
Do what you enjoy and enjoy what you are doing. Growth comes from experience and repeating what works, while changing what doesn’t.
You will be fine!
Good luck!
You don't have to act at all. Just describe what happens. Just quote the NPC. You are informing the players, not performing for them.
That prep in the journal is impressive. This amount of time spent probably makes it an amazing social encounter.... aaaand why my games consist primarily around dungeon diving and plenty of combat, lol.
PDM is awesome, But I'd prefer yer table to this scenario. I would play the guy who waits outside with the horses in case everything goes sideways. I would cook the pizza and grab beers while the rest of the table does this.
Fantastic advice! Bonus points for including the character voice tips. Quite simply the best DM tip that I did not know that I needed today. Great video! Cheers!
Thanks for watching. Glad it helps.
Social encounters are great! ... Until one of my players opens their mouths!
Been there!
D&D is often played by socially awkward people. Not having real life social skills can make both role playing those situations and adjudicating them tough... especially for young people who are getting started with the hobby. Having an explicit rule set that is just as detailed as the one for combat would be an interesting addition to the game.
Yeah. With low wisdom/charisma players, allowing for more social rolls is actually super important when they're playing high wisdom/charisma characters. They may not pick up on the queues you're putting down and may not know what would be effective to say or do in the situation.
I'm not socially awkward, but I don't enjoy "acting". I will quote characters, but it is in the 3rd person. You don't have to be socially awkward to not want to do voices and staging. If I want to have a conversation, it will be with the real people at the table with me. Not with their minis on the battle map. There is a non-roleplaying solution to every situation.
Not everyone can, or enjoys, actual roleplaying a social encounter. If they do, I will lower the DC or even give them the pass. Non-roleplayers will opt to just paraphrase what they are trying to accomplish and ask to roll the dice. I am ok with it accommodating their needs. Oddly, it is those people that usually come up with the best moments during roleplay. lol
Know your group! The professor has a great video on the three kinds of D&D player and how to modify things in situ to keep them all engaged.
There's also a big difference between role playing and acting. Saying "my character asks the Duke about his beautiful art, hoping to get him talking about something he loves to distract him." Is just as valid as actually acting that out.
I personally really enjoy the acting part, but I fully understand it's not for everyone.
Professor Dungeon Master has been BRINGING IT with all this new content. Thanks man.
You have one of the most beautiful notebooks I’ve ever seen!!
Also your Jeremy Irons impression was awesome!!
Deathbringer raises a very good point. *Always tie up your loose ends
Superb impersonation, I love how you prep conversations, I do that too but I think for me it evolved through enjoying pondering how the NPC thinks and what their drives are etc, that and a large dollop of nerdy enjoyment over the creative process. Great adventure, I love the freeform way you run them without answers or solutions, just the setup and the backgrounds of the NPCs. Superb stuff as usual.
Gotta say, that was a pretty decent Jeremy Irons voice, well done!
He's great in Margin Call. If you have not seen it, it is a GREAT movie.
I loved your Jeremy Irons 'voice'. That is definitely a memorable NPC voice. Your games really sound cool. I wish I could be in one of those. Your level of preparation is inspiring. I'm jealous of your players.
As always, thanks for the video. You should already have a million subscribers. Your channel is the best D&D channel on TH-cam in my opinion.
I know the DM isn’t a storyteller, but that was a great story! And all the shots of the minis and the notebook made it easy to follow
This is really helpful advice.
Setting up a scene broken down to three easy steps.
For me a fourth is missing: opposition.
Who is in the way of the party and their objectives? What is their motivation, their resources and their goal?
Especially when there is some kind of social contest like two minor nobles gaining favour of the Lord or something like that it is good to know.
Great prep BTW.
And the Jeremy Irons impression is magnificent.
What I like best in that scene is the integration of Marianne's background. There is a direct personal involvement and a complcation as the host may not find out who she really is.
I love it.
I like the statement of a high charisma score bot being a mind control. I run a Dungeon World game for my friends and one is quite precocious. She plays a teenaged magic user that thinks quite highly of herself as all yeens are wont to do. We had a small social encounter at the library where she likes to hang out because she found a room with a magic scroll she wanted to read but it was under glass. She got caught trying to get it and was quickly ushered out of the room and building by the head librarian and the guard. The party was trying to find her amd so I had them show up just as the librarian was tearing up the mage's library card. The mage tried to charm the guard to let her back in and succeeded in charming him. However, the guard was not going to go against what his primary purpose was, which was too guard over the library and keep it safe.
Later on I created another adventure for them so the mage could get her card back and get in good graces of her favorite spot. I had the same guard come over and chat with her clearly stilled charmed. He actually helped in keeping her safe when the social turned into a fighting encounter.
The player was a little put out that she couldn't just charm her way past people who clearly had an objective in mind, which was too keep her out of the building. But in the ling run it turned out to be a much better story for them.
Seen a person playing a gnome bard that tried to " Charm " a drow, the drow laugh and and started to carry the gnome around on her hip and talk to it as her " pet."
Random player, " Uh, .. that's not how the Charm spell works ."
Person PCing the drow, " Don't let the rules get into the way of a good story."
"The thousand injuries of Prof. Dungeon Master had I borne, but when he ventured upon Easter eggs I vowed revenge."
That's another important point i wish more people knew about when it comes to skills, the failure state doesn't need to be a failure.
The rouge picking locks can simply take minutes, it doesn't need to mean they failed or it's impossible for them.
That villain monologue was absolue gold. I was both horrified and laughing the whole time, well done.
Thanks! Be sure to watch the Supercut!. I add TONS of new stuff. th-cam.com/video/U-BXNjyBatw/w-d-xo.html
Another good bottle to steal would be an Austershalin Brandy.
Maybe next time!
Got to say great Jeremy Irons. And Death Bringer at the end skit truly made me laugh because I know plenty of players that think just like that.
Was listening with just headphones and had to pick up my iPad to see when the hell Jeremy Irons showed up. Impression game is on point.
Well you scored some points for using a Poe reference. I like how you weaved the character background into the plot.
Absolute positive remark! Genuine interest in content!
This video might be worth more gold than Goldface's face. Lots of good ideas. I always like seeing the behind-the-scenes notes of other DMs.
I can't believe you got Jeremy Irons to dub in that voiceline.
Great video! I love the craftsmanship of your notes.
Deathbringer, at the end steals the show. LOL.
One of the reasons I enjoy PDM's content is because is He is not only good at GMing (analogy being Strategy), but also Meta GMing (Strategy of strategy).
Professor, excellent advice and guidance. I will be using LOT (Location, Objective, and Tone)going forward when I develop my social encounters. I have a good mix of dungeon crawl and city encounters. This advice will be valuable.
I just want to say it’s a breath of fresh air to see your method and level of prep. I feel like on most of social media, DM’s who prep like this are looked on poorly - “you should just come up with 10 secrets and improv!” The “lazy” approach has never worked for me - not criticizing people who do it, but I think about the NPC’s, their motivations, what they know, what their disposition will be to the players, etc. That takes time and effort, but it makes for a better game to me. (Obviously there’s still a ton of improv too.)
This might be your best video yet! So much creativity on display, and it is all so well explained and presented. Thank you!
I had an Alchemist who would have been SO for smuggling a ton of things for this social encounter. He wore Celestial armor, noted to be so thin and light, it would fit underneath normal clothes. Those "clothes" he wore were actually the light Glamered armor he had before obtaining the better Celestial one; there is no benefit to wear two armors, but he was vain and the illusion effect let him appear like an immaculate dandy even in the middle of dungeons. He could lend this armor to the other PC masquerading as a guest, and wear his Celestial underneath a mundane costume. We do NOT expect things to get ugly, but now we are confident to be safe if it does.
As for potential weapons, he would need only to carry a small vial of alchemical liquid that becomes a makeshift sword for a few minutes after breaking open. If he's allowed to have his full level (18) for this, he can craft anything alchemical within a round, which should not be THAT difficult at a banquet and with his ludicrous bonus. Oh, and a spell allowing him to be at two places at the same times, although one ends up staring at a distance while the other acts.
He was also itching for an occasion such as this to flex his ludicrous alchemical poison skills. Let's say we need a distraction. He could easily have on his person a flask of "alcohol" filled with poison. My character was immune to all poisons, naturally, but to anyone else being invited to share a sip? The poor NPC would fail my ludicrously high DC, then only know 5 more minute of bliss unawareness before the onset period ended, at which Lord Whitepants would then become sickened for, idk, does 2d4 minutes seem reasonable? And here, "sickened" means immediate, alchemically-induced, supernaturally fueled diarrhea!!
You want a distraction?? I give you the most discussed embarrassment of the YEAR! I give you an explosion!! A show of pure horror nobody, NOBODY will be able to take their eyes from! You think Bards can Fascinate? I WILL SHOW YOU FASCINATION!! HAHAHAHA!!!
This is how my group ends up in a social encounter for a whole session with like 2 dice rolls.
I seriously just want to steal this entire heist! As usual this was an excellent video
Thank you for this video! This is a topic I've explored many times via Nerdarchy's website and it is awesome to see a respected YT voice discussing social encounters this way.
Loved this video! Roleplaying is a beautiful thing if you allow it to happen. If you constantly press for die rolls in encounters, I honestly believe you are completely loosing out on the best and funniest parts of the rpg. Great Video Professor! And great preparation and voices!
James C.
Just like XP, I only give channels a thumbs up when they've earned it. This Dungeon Craft video is one of the most well presented to date so it has earned both a thumbs up and a comment to help feed the algorithm. There is definitely a reason Comic Book Guy is funny and I thought your impersonation of Jeremy Irons was fantastic. Take a level Professor.
I can just imagine Anton Rodimus being played by Charles Dance!
Huh and here i thought the secret was alcohol... I'm learning so much!
Love this, great ideas. I enjoy non-combat encounters but mostly they are just info dumps, or pre-planned plot movers. This inspires me to create more 'robust' social encounters. Thank You.
Great vid ! More than social, these are good tips for running urban scenes. Creatures from Fairy-Tale and Myth 5e has some sweet social combat rules if you want some crunchy non-reductionist approach.
the wine cellar looks great on video
The real trick with this is keeping things moving, and not getting lost in the weeds of the ins and outs of each NPC. Rather than track it all, probably better to just let the dice decide when a player asks.
Excellent advice. I also like the ideas presented in a social encounter video on the Runehammer channel. Combining these techniques would make for a fun, dynamic scene.
That Jeremy Irons impression was top shelf!
I love the "My Last Dutchess" tone of Anton's wife list. He sounds a little more like James Mason than Jeremy Irons, though.
I would have the players who have to pose as servents later disguise themselves as masked criminals who bust in and hold the place hostage, still the wine and a lot of other things so as to hide the fact that the wine was the real target, and as they make there escape hide the wine in a place the party members who attended can later retrieve it without suspicion.
7:27 fantastic. I'd roll natural 20's to watch vids of you and your group gaming, ala dungeon dudes.
That Jeremy Irons was pretty good.
Phenomenal video packed full of great advice!!!
I generally take Easter eggs a step further. If my players are looking for a cask of amontillado, you can bet there's a villain who will imprison them behind a brick wall if they get caught.
Very good.
Great video. An interesting follow up might be how to handle time pressure in social adventures, as well as what constitutes failure.
I love seamlessly working my player's backstories into the overall plot - especially when it creates main antagonists for the party.
just discovered your channel recently and I've been binge watching your channel. such great content!
Another kickass video, prof. Thanks!
I have always liked the idea of "social combat" with a quips or rebuttals mechanic but have not seen any system that doesn't get overly complex and devolve into the 5e version of Robert's Rules of Order.
Charisma for insult, bully, flatter, bluff, along with diplomatic business deals.
Wisdom to control your temper when dealing with insults and intimidation.
In the court of Queen Elizabeth I, daughter of King Henry VIII. The nobles were so prone to fist/ knife fights within the royal palace they made a law if you fought on the grounds you get you right hand cut off. Few years later they moved it up to have you forearm cut off just above the elbow. So, .. social combat can have some grim results. But you could get two drunks at a party to get into a fist fight for fun.
Honestly my favourite dnd channel ❤️
Fantastic suggestions… thank you!
As usual enjoyed your perspective. Couldn't help being distracted by the thought that in a burg full of thieves , there would be no better occasion or distraction to execute burglaries elsewhere than the biggest event of the year - Say for instance from the players' stash of favourite equipment that they couldn't take to the ball !
Good point!
My guy's got that. There will prolly be combat and stuff at the hideout, right? Have fun at the ball!
When you did your Jeremy irons all I heard was Alfred Hitchcock. 😂
I like to use wisdom along side charisma when it comes to my social events.
Great video thank you for the tips.
Give a Wisdom Save to that poor soul your Bard is trying to Persuade. IF you can resist magic, you can resist the "sweet nothings" of a Bard!
@@swaghauler8334
I actually house rulled that bard magic works off Intelligence and not charisma like in 5th ed (because thats just bad design to use 1 stat so heavily)
all magic is with intelligence
so bards are already nerfed
Impressive voice work Professor! Great vid!
Going to jump in an be a massive pedant by Tlusty's Martial Ethic book argues that in late medieval/ early modern German cities it was a requirement for citizens to be armed or have arms prepared.
Love your maps.
Great stuff PDM! You did sound like Irons, uncanny. 😀
Okay, Prof, I love the voice. I would love to hear other voices you've developed for your games.
The Jeremy Irons voice sounds like the white-haired supervillain character from Mitchell & Webb and I love it! 😆
"It's their job to protag." 👍🏻
I have to say I watch your videos often. As a DM I agree with a lot of what you say, I differ on some opinions but that's just my style. THIS, however, this topic I agree with you 100% and can't express enough how every player and DM should hear this, especially if you are new.
I love Deathbringer. Reminds me of a corny Archon the Everchosen.
And here I was thinking that "How to improve your social encounter" was going to be a ten second video where the Professor merely set a bottle of wine on the counter in front of him and grinned at the camera.
…
"Montresor! For the love of God!"
Watching your players go through this encounter is going to be great fun-I haven't yet gotten that far into it, but it's a great group you've got. 🤣 But certainly it would have to be a just about purely social encounter. The weapons of battle would have no place at a party of this sort. There might be knives and the like just in case a bandit should accost someone coming or going (if often without much skill in using them!) In fact the worst possible thing might be someone finding out that any sort of violence whatsoever had been done because only the host is likely to be able to bring in people with ready access to such things and they'd start looking at people's identities and stories.
So Professor, where do your players put their weapons when they enter a city? Where does one stash a +5 Holy Avenger? What’s your in game solution?
There's no body count if there's nobody left to count. Deathbringer is a smart dude.
Very solid advice about social checks and how WoTC intended them. Several of my players are shocked when they realize that their awesome checks only slightly shifted an attitude.
Thanks professor, great video
My NPCs want things. If the players have those things, a trade is almost certain. If they can help the NPCs get what they want, then a trade is likely.
Good video as always. I definitely need tips on social encounters. My players always seem to prefer to use Deathbringer’s social skills.
LOL sorry!
@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 You should do a video instructing DMs how to run a Deathbringer solution to social encounters.
Ugh rewatching this series makes me want to run a campaign so bad. Not having time to run one on top of my regular group in which I'm currently a player because it's not yet my turn to DM is killing me inside.
I needed this video so badly
Glad it helps! Thanks for watching.
PDM where do you get all these "regular goon" minis ? servants, suspicious lookin crooks and the like .. not one of em with a 100 lbs pauldron either
The Merchant sounds like Sydney Greenstreet.
Professor... from where did you procure the minis you show around the 3 min mark when talking about no armor. those are some great figures.
Masked figures look like they are part of the Carnevale patrician gang published by TT Combat. The serving staff include minis from Wizkids (tavern/bar staff in particular).
Your voices are excellant!
Thanks, Angie!
Doesn't sound like Jeremy Irons but it does sound fantastic!
Fantastic stuff
Hey, professor! Great video. Have you tried adapting some of the Cypher System (Numenéra) main mechanics for your social encounters? They could work great for the type of game you run. Keep up your great videos!
A very close Jeremy Irons.
I'll bet my players will be rolling charisma checks before I call for them. They will meet Strahd Von Zarovich soon.
Mysterious contact: Goldface. 😆. Bond reference much?
Well done with the voice.
Thank you. I try my best.
So the secret is invest insane amounts of time and effort into preparing for DMing got it
Still, liked
It gets quicker the more you do it.
If you love doing it, it’s not work.
No doubt. When coming up with NPCs on the spot, I just describe their most prominent feature and noticeable piece of gear, and make sure everyone's got goals, means and fears. The rest tends to sort itself out.
@@Wiseblood2012 Exactly!
There is unfortunately no substitute for preparation. I wish that wasn't true but it is. Even the ability to improvise a game comes through preparation explicitly (in that you literally prep to improvise) and implicitly (in that you are drawing on your experience as a DM to leverage past preparation and games).
Didn't Eric Burden and War have a song about stealing the wine?
I also give NPCs distinctive personalities by doing - in my case - unrecognizable impressions.
Damn good video !
When did Deathbringer level up and get new armor? I like it, just haven't been paying attention.
Great voices 👌
Addendum: Not only should dice rolls be limited to a reasonable chance of failure, but also a reasonable chance of success. There's no point of letting your players roll dice for a Charisma check when there is no reasonable success that is possible.
What I heard:
LOCATION
LOCATION
LOCATION
Wait, what happened to the finale? I remember there being a video about how to end a campaign that was also the finale to this series. Did YT purge it for some reason?
Edit: nvm, found it, just not included in the playlist