yea the short term format is kinda fun for shorts, but I would watch the hell out of a championship, where 3 of each monsters battle 3v3 in a arena, taking into consideration movement and such, maybe a little background info on the mobs, the way they behave and look and such make it just a little atmospheric, you still get the retention cuz the numbers are so adicting, just with a little extra
I already knew about how tough Zombies could be to put down, especially at lower levels, but this tournament has really brought to light how interesting Violet Fungus is as a monster. A total glass cannon which could really be a curveball for mid-level player characters who expect any hit roll lower than a 14 to miss. Gotta find a way to put those in my next campaign! Thanks for making this, I'm a sucker for tournament stuff like this!
This was the most entertaining video I've seen today. It really shows off each monsters strengths and weaknesses. That Zombie really clutched those matches.
Cool concept and fun video! Would love to see a more in depth version taking into account movement types and speed on an actual battlefield? The mephits fly speed would really make it a tough competitor in a runback
Was watching all this on Instagram and gotta say, I gotta start running solo combats like this for myself on nights where D&D sessions are cancelled/rescheduled!
You did the pixie dirty though. With its flying speed and 10 Intelligence and 14 Wisdom it could, and most likely would, have cast sleep on the zombie and then flown upwards out of it's attack range, so the zombie can't hit it anymore. Then cast phantasmal force on the zombie, which each turn would deal 1d6 damage to it, while the zombie can't do anything but try to break out of it with an Investigation check, since it can't hit the pixie. 10 d6 damage would potentially be enough to overcome the zombie's undead fortitude. If that fails, THEN the pixie wouldn't have anything offensive anymore against the zombie. And even then it could become invisible to give the zombie disadvantage on it's attacks.
Great video Brandon! I’ve ‘had the pleasure’ of playing games GM’d by Brandon and I can confirm the energy and excitement shown in the video is genuine. Looking forward to many more like it!!
The mephit could've won by flying out of reach and waiting for his breath weapon to recharge. It could also cast blur And the acolyte could cast sanctuary after attacking
I'm curious about how you decided on their seeding in the tournament bracket, but pretty neat. I was really surprised by how well the Violet Fungus did in this run, and how close some of those bouts were.
I had 3 personal favorites but my number one favorite was the violet fungus, but I should have expected that the zombie would win when those two were put up against each other since the violet fungus' strength was in the multiple attacks not the damage alone
Question from another dm. I always thought undead fortitude only triggered once? This could just be my baldurs gate 3 confusion, and reading the monster stat block it didnt say that in any way, but im just curious if anyone else thought the same as me.
If someone out there knows how to animate this or op himself; this would be a great series to animate!! It’s a lot of work I realize that, but it could be a great long term series on the channel to animate these fights in a tournament style. “Tournament of the Troubled”!
Steam mephit should have used Blur in their first turn to cast blur before using the breath weapon, and you didn't roll on camera at least to see if the Steam mephit got his breath weapon back on a roll of 6 so it could be used again.
Now we make an encounter with top 4 ¼ CR creatures and see how they do against a party. Most funny of all would be if they arrive all in 1 go. So a zombie with a flying zword and violet fungus growing on them riding a steeder. 4 of these combinations should be a decent challenge for a low lvl party. 😂😂😊
@@BrandonRKim There's a creature called the Neogi (page 179-180 volo's guide to monster's) are master enslavers that can create an army of the weirdest creature combinations that under normal circumstances would never be found together. Neogi are very weak themselves, but 1 failed saving throw and they can dominate them. Monsters and multiclass did an episode on them 5 years ago (finding it toke a while), look for paladin/rogue and the Neogi. Depending on the army they build up even really powerful creatures like dragons, liches and the Terrask could end up under their controle. It wouldn't be hard to make an entire campaign that maybe even goes beyond level 20. Off course it starts with reports about strange phenomena and they need someone to investigate. Slowly but surely more gets revealed about these aliens that are trying to take over the world. Also Nerdarchy made a video called how many undead can you make with 1 corpse. So a creative by Neogi enslaved druid-necromancer/liche should be a nice intermediate boss that was responsible for some of the earlier weird encounters. Would that be a good enough explanation?
The pixie should have polymorphed the Zombie into a worm then flown it up 200 ft and dropped it killing with 20d6 fall damage (and phantasmal force can deal damage)
You could also do this with groups of enemies and actually show off what their tactics would actually be like. A bunch of zombies would just simply move forward and attack, same with magical swords, but a pack of wolves would target and surround enemies, i think it'd be quite interesting.
Cool video. To me though, this is the Mephit's game to lose, only the Flying Sword and the Steeder can even reach the Mephit thanks to the fly speed, and their intelligence is high enough to know to stay out of reach and just wait for their steam breath to come back. Although it's much less interesting. Steeder relies on poison and is affected by Blur, so it's unlikely the steeder sneaks in a kill. The Flying sword is likely to take the win because it effectively counters the Mephit's blur and has a high AC for the CR it is. So in a bracket where the sword and the mephit meet, I would think the sword would win the tourney, otherwise the fly speed + ranged ability combo too busted and our Steamy Boi cleans house.
I just started a new tourney!! You can find it on TH-cam shorts, or go to TikTok/instagram under the same name! Otherwise, I will post the full version on TH-cam once the tourney is over!
the pixie got cheated. it could still cast phantasmal force, which can do dmg. the 1/day says its 1/day each, so one entangle one polymorphs one phantasmal force etc. also: pixie op if you cast it with summon wodland beings. its permanently invisible and can fly, so its basically immortal to most creatures, as the creatures have to immediately attack the pixie after it casts a spell and thus stops being hidden for that round(it can hide again on its next turn) at dissadvantage and range as its invisible. this spell trades a 4th lvl slot for eight of each of the following spells:confusion, dancing lights, detect evil and good, detect thoughts, dispel magic, entangle, fly, phantasmal force, polymorph, sleep. these are 16 4th lvl spells, 16 3lvl spells 16 2lvl spells and 24 1st lvl spells(and not terrible ones either). you just have to be carefull to not have all the pixies sit close to each other or a single aoe will just delete them.
zombie seemed to be very lucky all bracket and violet fungus unlucky. i think if you run the combat 100 times, violet fungus wins more than 50 of them for sure
Pixie could of cast fly on the zombie, then flew up 100 ft zombie in tow, then drop concentration. The zombie would of then taken 35 (10d6) bludgeoning damage from the fall. But I get the point was just a raw dog hell in the cell match, so I will pass no judgement.
yea the short term format is kinda fun for shorts, but I would watch the hell out of a championship, where 3 of each monsters battle 3v3 in a arena, taking into consideration movement and such, maybe a little background info on the mobs, the way they behave and look and such make it just a little atmospheric, you still get the retention cuz the numbers are so adicting, just with a little extra
That’s a great idea!!!
I already knew about how tough Zombies could be to put down, especially at lower levels, but this tournament has really brought to light how interesting Violet Fungus is as a monster. A total glass cannon which could really be a curveball for mid-level player characters who expect any hit roll lower than a 14 to miss. Gotta find a way to put those in my next campaign!
Thanks for making this, I'm a sucker for tournament stuff like this!
Yay I love it!! Glad I could shine some light on some monsters!!
Well this is a surprise.
one of my favorite concepts ever is pitting different enemy types against eachother. Great video!
Thank you!!!
Gonna be that guy and say the Acolyte should've been self-casting Sanctuary since it's a bonus action. Very fun stuff though.
The zombie was an absolute menace in this tournament.
Undead Fortitude and high HP are really good traits
This was the most entertaining video I've seen today. It really shows off each monsters strengths and weaknesses. That Zombie really clutched those matches.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!
Cool concept and fun video! Would love to see a more in depth version taking into account movement types and speed on an actual battlefield? The mephits fly speed would really make it a tough competitor in a runback
Love the idea!!!
Was watching all this on Instagram and gotta say, I gotta start running solo combats like this for myself on nights where D&D sessions are cancelled/rescheduled!
Woooooooo!!!!!
The Dretch was done dirty. If it didn't go for Fetid Cloud it probably would've won.
You did the pixie dirty though. With its flying speed and 10 Intelligence and 14 Wisdom it could, and most likely would, have cast sleep on the zombie and then flown upwards out of it's attack range, so the zombie can't hit it anymore. Then cast phantasmal force on the zombie, which each turn would deal 1d6 damage to it, while the zombie can't do anything but try to break out of it with an Investigation check, since it can't hit the pixie.
10 d6 damage would potentially be enough to overcome the zombie's undead fortitude. If that fails, THEN the pixie wouldn't have anything offensive anymore against the zombie. And even then it could become invisible to give the zombie disadvantage on it's attacks.
Great video Brandon! I’ve ‘had the pleasure’ of playing games GM’d by Brandon and I can confirm the energy and excitement shown in the video is genuine. Looking forward to many more like it!!
❤️❤️❤️thank you Brad!!! It has been a pleasure to GM for you when I did!!
Dude, im so stoked about finding this channel! Keep it up
Yay! Glad you’re enjoying it!
The mephit could've won by flying out of reach and waiting for his breath weapon to recharge. It could also cast blur
And the acolyte could cast sanctuary after attacking
That undead fortitude came in clutch
Absolutely love these videos and your shorts!
Thank you so much!
Dude this is awesome!
Thank you!! Glad you liked it!
1:21 The pixie still had Phantasmal Force and could have still won.
Just came across this, and I already love this series.
Wooo! Thank you!
I can’t believe plants didn’t defeat zombies… PvZ lied to me ;-;
This is a fun series. I wonder what the absolute strongest 1/4th is. I need a tournament of champions!
Every single CR 1/4 ever put out in an official 5e book!?!🤔
I'm curious about how you decided on their seeding in the tournament bracket, but pretty neat.
I was really surprised by how well the Violet Fungus did in this run, and how close some of those bouts were.
I had 3 personal favorites but my number one favorite was the violet fungus, but I should have expected that the zombie would win when those two were put up against each other since the violet fungus' strength was in the multiple attacks not the damage alone
Question from another dm. I always thought undead fortitude only triggered once? This could just be my baldurs gate 3 confusion, and reading the monster stat block it didnt say that in any way, but im just curious if anyone else thought the same as me.
From my understanding, it continues until it fails!
If someone out there knows how to animate this or op himself; this would be a great series to animate!! It’s a lot of work I realize that, but it could be a great long term series on the channel to animate these fights in a tournament style. “Tournament of the Troubled”!
I love that idea!!!
This is awesome! Would love to see an even bigger video with all possible 1/4th creatures
Your shirts kept changing throughout the video, thought it was hilarious
🤣😂🤣
@@BrandonRKim I think it would be even funnier if you didn't have to do anything between rounds, you just wanted to change your shirt.
Steam mephit should have used Blur in their first turn to cast blur before using the breath weapon, and you didn't roll on camera at least to see if the Steam mephit got his breath weapon back on a roll of 6 so it could be used again.
MORE PLEASE!!
I GOTCHU FAM
Now we make an encounter with top 4 ¼ CR creatures and see how they do against a party. Most funny of all would be if they arrive all in 1 go. So a zombie with a flying zword and violet fungus growing on them riding a steeder. 4 of these combinations should be a decent challenge for a low lvl party. 😂😂😊
Hahaha that would be a very fun encounter of the weak idea!! You’d have to be v creative to work that seamlessly into a narrative lol
@@BrandonRKim There's a creature called the Neogi (page 179-180 volo's guide to monster's) are master enslavers that can create an army of the weirdest creature combinations that under normal circumstances would never be found together. Neogi are very weak themselves, but 1 failed saving throw and they can dominate them. Monsters and multiclass did an episode on them 5 years ago (finding it toke a while), look for paladin/rogue and the Neogi. Depending on the army they build up even really powerful creatures like dragons, liches and the Terrask could end up under their controle. It wouldn't be hard to make an entire campaign that maybe even goes beyond level 20.
Off course it starts with reports about strange phenomena and they need someone to investigate. Slowly but surely more gets revealed about these aliens that are trying to take over the world.
Also Nerdarchy made a video called how many undead can you make with 1 corpse. So a creative by Neogi enslaved druid-necromancer/liche should be a nice intermediate boss that was responsible for some of the earlier weird encounters.
Would that be a good enough explanation?
In the pixie's defense...it could have used phantasmal force to damage the zombie?
How did you pick your original line up? And how did you pick the ones skipping the first round?
The pixie should have polymorphed the Zombie into a worm then flown it up 200 ft and dropped it killing with 20d6 fall damage (and phantasmal force can deal damage)
bro im seconds in and i love the energy, keep that shit up
Thank you so much!🫶
Please do the whole monster manual.
All in due time😆
@BrandonRKim Thanks, Brandon. we need this!
You seem to have forgotten to use the steam mephit's blur
And that the pixie’s Phantasmal Force could do damage
This would be cooler if every match was to the best of 3, or best of 5. Then you can really tell which one is slightly stronger and not just lucky.
You could also do this with groups of enemies and actually show off what their tactics would actually be like. A bunch of zombies would just simply move forward and attack, same with magical swords, but a pack of wolves would target and surround enemies, i think it'd be quite interesting.
Oooo love the ideas!
Cool video. To me though, this is the Mephit's game to lose, only the Flying Sword and the Steeder can even reach the Mephit thanks to the fly speed, and their intelligence is high enough to know to stay out of reach and just wait for their steam breath to come back. Although it's much less interesting.
Steeder relies on poison and is affected by Blur, so it's unlikely the steeder sneaks in a kill. The Flying sword is likely to take the win because it effectively counters the Mephit's blur and has a high AC for the CR it is. So in a bracket where the sword and the mephit meet, I would think the sword would win the tourney, otherwise the fly speed + ranged ability combo too busted and our Steamy Boi cleans house.
I noticed you giving the zombie advantage sometimes. Was there a logic behind that?
Good question!! I grant the opposition advantage on nat 1s!! Wanted those 1s to mean something in the IFC!
You said "welcome back" does this mean you have other tournaments?
I just started a new tourney!! You can find it on TH-cam shorts, or go to TikTok/instagram under the same name! Otherwise, I will post the full version on TH-cam once the tourney is over!
What's probability to a Steeder with hot dice and a dream 😍
the pixie got cheated. it could still cast phantasmal force, which can do dmg. the 1/day says its 1/day each, so one entangle one polymorphs one phantasmal force etc. also: pixie op if you cast it with summon wodland beings. its permanently invisible and can fly, so its basically immortal to most creatures, as the creatures have to immediately attack the pixie after it casts a spell and thus stops being hidden for that round(it can hide again on its next turn) at dissadvantage and range as its invisible. this spell trades a 4th lvl slot for eight of each of the following spells:confusion, dancing lights, detect evil and good, detect thoughts, dispel magic, entangle, fly, phantasmal force, polymorph, sleep. these are 16 4th lvl spells, 16 3lvl spells 16 2lvl spells and 24 1st lvl spells(and not terrible ones either). you just have to be carefull to not have all the pixies sit close to each other or a single aoe will just delete them.
There is no CR restriction to 1/4 on the pixies polymorph. The pixie shouldve bodied this easily
Where does it say this for the Pixie?
I think some generic battle music would help. Maybe give each creature a theme to? Also, Steam mephit not casting blur?
Imma claim my 966th subscriber token now
🎟️
Why the zombie have main character luck
zombie seemed to be very lucky all bracket and violet fungus unlucky. i think if you run the combat 100 times, violet fungus wins more than 50 of them for sure
Pixie shouldn’t have forfeited they could cast phantasmal force not saying it’s gonna change the result just a note
Why would he make the dretch use an attack he knows is not going to work, it could've won if he didn't do that
Pixie could of cast fly on the zombie, then flew up 100 ft zombie in tow, then drop concentration. The zombie would of then taken 35 (10d6) bludgeoning damage from the fall.
But I get the point was just a raw dog hell in the cell match, so I will pass no judgement.
Why not have the Pixie polumorph into something better like a T-Rex or a Giant Ape?
Polymorph can only change a monster into a CR of equal or lesser value!
@@BrandonRKim oh yeah, I guess I only really think about when players are using it