Remember folks, if you feel weird about picking your player's magic items you can always make your own 1d1 Magic Item tables to roll on randomly, rerolling dupes of course...
I demand Matthew Colville narrated audio books, with an assortment of Klignon Dwarf and Raspy Dragonborn voices. You could sell that for 5 bucks of which you see 5 bucks. :)
Xanhorn I’m now picturing a tiny enraged Klingon with Matt’s voice screaming and swinging one of those ridiculous “swords” around. The mental image of a Klingon dwarf is hilarious. Ik you probably meant to put a coma between them but still...
Glyph of Warding is indeed in 5e, though it's considerably stronger than you made it. 5d8 acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder damage, OR you can attach a spell to it instead. I love it.
+1d8 per spell slot above Level 3. It can also "store" a Level 3 (or higher, if using a higher spell slot) spell like Fireball etc. to be cast on whoever triggered it.
Agreed. I just recently found his channel after searching for info on learning to DM since my current DM wants to play a character. I love Matt. He's helped so much.
"Oh, I've given you no word to keep. In my judgment you simply have no alternative." YEAH! Thank you -- a quote from one of my favorite movies. As in, had the thing memorized and with my brothers could recite it chapter and verse at random moments any time and at the slightest provocation. You rock, Matt!
I think that its fine to describe a smell as like ozone, or use other modern references that the characters don't understand to describe things. The idea is you aren't saying "your character knows there is ozone", you are trying to evoke imagery and convey what the character is sensing. The characters might not understand what these things are, but they aren't the ones who have to imagine it - the players are.
I use this all the time. I'll say "You see the sun, but it's black, with a white halo around and above it. To your characters, this is an omen of the apocalypse. And they are right, because to you, their horsemen, you know it not to be the sun, but it's corpse. A black hole writhes in the sky."
This is like a mini-critical role, and I love it. I watch this as much as I watch that but this is great for when I don't have a 4 hour sit-down but still need a juicy adventure.
Listening to these diaries has helped me more than almost anything when it comes to getting a feel for how to run or play in sessions. I love how Matt's games have such an old-school feel even with newer rules.
I really like these campaign diary videos for a reason completely from why I enjoy watching Crit-Role. I like watching /your/ videos not because I feel particularly invested in the adventure or the characters, but because I love hearing your assessments about the actual play experience. What you were anticipating vs what happened, how you change things about the game in response to the player's actions, game design theory, etc. It's really interesting stuff and those lessons are my real takeaways with these videos. Frankly, I love the idea of a DM-sided campaign log. It's super interesting to hear how a DM/GM planned for a game and what they had to do to account for all the unexpected shit PCs do. As usual, can't wait for your next upload!
Hey Matthew! I've been watching your videos for about a month now. Just today I ran a new game for my friends in a brand new setting with new characters etc.. Honestly after two years of running games for these guys, I have never seen them have a better time or have myself enjoy it more. So I'd like to say thanks for making this awesome channel and helping people like me to be better Dungeon Masters. So in short keep doing what you're doing! It's great. :)
I'm super excited about your next video! I have done 100% original stuff in the past, and it's really burned me out. I think being able to watch you convert published material into custom personal stuff will be really helpful and inspiring. So, thank you! I really appreciate you churning out this great free content.
That was such an epic battle description. It got me super hyped, so I can only imagine how amazing it was for your players actually fighting through it.
The "Colville Screw" and the dungeon coming to explore you, reminds me of that race from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy that is constantly evolving and since they've been everyone they can appreciate all people's points and that this appreciation is military in nature.
Buying your books soon, love your videos! Thank you so much for everything you have given to the RPG community. As a person who is brand new to the whole D&D scene I have learned more DM tips from you than any other source. Also, being deployed to the one of the crappiest places on the planet, the contributions you've made to our campaign have stopped most of us from suck starting a pistol! Thanks so much for everything you do, keep it up!
I love the idea of, effectively, a DM "walkthrough", step-by-step in how to prep for an adventure. I was scanning through your videos, Mr. Colville, and I wasn't quite sure if you'd made one yet. Has one been made yet, at this time? EDIT: Oh! Or is that the "twitch builds a D&D world" playlist?
So I've been writing my own D&D material for my players for the first time. I think you probably helped me do that, so thanks. I'm making some personalized side quests to go along with the module I'm running.
OMG MORE VIDEOS. I've binge watched all of them in the last few days. Matt, this series is awesome! Excitedly looking forward to your "how I prep a session" video. More more more!!!
The intellect devourer is a blast from the past for me. Neverwinter Nights was my first experience with DnD and roleplay gaming in general. That was one of the waterdavian creatures you have to find, and was my first boss battle in that game.
I smell fudge! Explaining: On Warehouse 13 (a TV series) the smell of fudge was both evidence of an artifact (kind of like a magical item) as well as the characters "slang" to say they thought or knew an artifact was involved... And the fun of the reference is lost.Also, that is an interesting "ability" for humans as a race to have, might add something of the sorts on my brewin campaign. Thanks!
I know it’s an old video, but when you mention how the orcs couldn’t bring all of their forces to bear, my first thought was the 300 against the Persians. Terrain makes a difference!
Hi Matt! I was listening to your podcast yesterday while creating my adventure for Saturday. I'm looking forward to hearing how you prepare your adventures as its something I'm always trying to get better at. Thanks for these videos!
Matt!!! I think that your idea for showing all your prep for a campaign/session in a later video would be phenomenal! It is always interesting to take some tips or tricks other DMs employ and try them in my sessions. I love seeing how they go off with my players. Great video as usual. Love hearing about your campaign. It helps get the juices flowing for me as well. I just came up with a legendary item that I introduced to my players at 1st level. They had no idea that it was legendary. Heck, neither did I until just now! I never really thought about giving my low level players epic magic items that react to their actions. I think that is a really cool idea!
Hey Matt, love the campaign diaries, and I love that you are still tying DM tips into this kind of video. The next thing I want to talk about is the idea of using pre-written campaigns vs making your own story. I've been hearing a lot recently about how most new DMs shouldn't bother making an original campaign since there is so much already out there. And that there are so many more benefits to using a pre-written adventure compared to making your own. And this kind of thinking is discouraging me from going with a campaign that I had in mind for my players for my first time DMing, a story line that I came up with myself. Can you talk about the merits of running an original campaign over running a pre-written one? I know you mostly use pre-written adventures, but I'd like to hear your thoughts on the benefits of original story's vs pre-written ones. Thanks, and again, love these videos.
Was the metallic smell of magic inspired by Discworld, by chance? 😆 I like the idea of magic having a sort of radiation effect, like an near-imperceptable whine, a static charge, or the sting you get in your teeth when you're near too much metal.
+Matthew Colville yeah i don't know why but your tone of voice dramatically shifted and it was rather jarring. I was like "hold on somethings different here". sent me down into the great darkness of the youtube comments section to find this.
Ant Wu Lol dude I first noticed that and went back and forth to figure out happened. He showered and then combed his hair. He then returned to the video to edit the footage and recorded some more with his hair damp. Yeah.... i have too much free time on my hands.
Thank you for this amazing channel, Matt. Watching your How To's and diary videos have helped me improve tremendously as a DM. Keep up the great work, kind sir. :)
i doubt your players will accuse you of "taking it easy" on them after you murdered that wizard . i really like these. i just finished the running the games, and im catching up on these. good stuff. thanks
Just wanted to let you know how awesome your video's are. They've really pumped up my enthusiasm for DM'ing. I was so-so about it but now I'm raring to go. Still feel like there's.. too much for me to do to make it fun.. but I think that's just the over-prep nature of my personality Anyways, love these. Going to keep watching them over and over as I prep
Matt.... yes please do a DETAILED video on "prepping".... I am a new DM and could definitely use the help. ... please! Also, your videos are absolutely amazing
Just binge watched all of your content Matt. I've learnt so much from you as a DM already and look forward to future videos. I'd follow your hairy bugbear ass into battle any day!
Just for reference if you haven't checked already, yes Glyph of Warding does exist, but it does 5d8 damage or half as much on a successful save. Against a 3rd level party I would say your assumption of damage dice was appropriate.
That "humans sensing magic" thing is awesome. Turns out I clean buildings with magic every day! We get it from this machine that dilutes the magic into water.
your storytelling is very exciting and it pulls me in, and you are one of the few people to get me into d&d and I thank you for that! also you must tell me how you got your hair to change suddenly, that is an amazing trick!
"The White Arrow does this:" Let's see, that's 5d10, a d8, a d6, and... The ten's place for a percentile pair. I really hope that 90 on the latter die is actually a 90.
Man that bit about the War Priest being allowed to be a WAR priest just reminds me of why I hated always having to play the cleric because no one else would. Mostly because everyone just viewed your job as not the Fist of the Gods, but the Walking HP Dispenser. So they'd always get annoyed if you "risked" yourself in combat side by side with your brothers in arms. They'd get annoyed if you "Wasted" a spell on anything other than healing or buffing up the party. You'd have theoretically cool powers... that you never got the chance to do because you were the only one who could do very specific things so they demanded you did them. And it got tiring. I remember a lot of unsatisfied sessions where I ended up just bored and discontent, knowing I couldn't actually do the things I wanted to do without sparking strife about how I was not doing my jobs and such of "Hide away from the enemy and top us up after/during the fight". And I know a lot of people will look at the game because they joined in third edition, or fifth, and say: "That's not what being a cleric is, they kick butt!". But... it wasn't what they were originally. Lots of reasons for it. From the relative paucity of magic swag (not like every single little collection of farms had a store you could buy cheap healing potions at), to the relative lack of spells (Clerics only having spells level 1-7, no Cantrips or higher levels), to the way Cleric spells were gained (depending on deity you only had access to certain types of spells up to certain levels), and so on. I feel so much for anyone in that plight of sitting there, having no fun, realizing that they're forced to ditch anything fun they thought they were making due to the group pressure.
Hey Matt, this is my first time commenting here, I really like your videos! I was also wondering how you manage to balance encounters for PCs who seem to be armed to the teeth with magic items, as yours is! I think I can see where you're going with the resource idea. Best of luck with the series, can't wait for the next video!
Question. Do you announce the names of NPC's when they appear? Or do you wait a couple of sessions, the players then hear about this person and when they seem him/her "they know" who it is? Do you announce the name of the weapon(s) they are using, ala Boonbreaker's weapon Wound? Just curious on how you did that. Great to see how other DM's deal with interactions. And love the shield btw. Fantastic. I used to include scabbards that would up player's AC until they drew the sword that it held, then once it was drawn, it functioned as a normal scabbard. Of course players try to figure out a way to get the bonus all the time... :D
Thank you for doing what you do, Matt! These videos have inspired me to run a campaign for some of my coworkers, and I am extremely thankful for all the advice that you've been giving so far! I would ask for one piece of advice though: I run a homebrewed setting campaign for another party, and we have just about finished an arc. When you complete an arc in your campaign and your party is experienced and ambitious enough to potentially have some disagreements about what they wish to do in terms of their next questline, how would you prepare the next arc? Would you advise preparing starting sessions for the next three or four potential questlines or attempt to railroad them on to a path you prefer or would you advise some third option?
Another great video, Matt. I do have one question. You said your players are around level 3 or 4. What's your thought on the progression of magic items so far? From what I've read, "normal" parties usually don't even get to +1 items till level 5 or so, and your party already is rocking some insane +2 items that have additional benefits. Do you feel like the power progression might get out of hand by higher levels?
+Seth Hagen If you look at Mines of phandelver, the party can get +1 items before reaching level 3. A +1 bonus isn't all that significant in 5E. Advantage and Resistances are far more useful.
When the new monster appeared at the end, I was first thinking that this is all getting incredibly complex. But actually, no it isn't. It's all very simple, but for the players. who have to guess what it might all mean, all the different possibilities they can think of make it really complex.
Regarding Carolor (?) the Vile leaving the defeated party alive. There could be reasons he'd do this. 1) He doesn't care if they live or die; they are scum and beneath his notice. 2) Killing someone you don't know could mean you gain a powerful foe - is that the son of a local Lord? 3) The right fearful word can solve problems before they occur, and the party should be plenty fearful!
I am really enjoying these videos, and I have some good ideas for my own campaign. Feel compelled to mention Hunger of Hadar is a 3rd level spell though, not 4th.
16:50 is like the biggest coincidence I´ve ever witnessed. As I´m writing this I´m in the progress of creating a Lvl 5 Warlock for a One-Shot. I´m allowed to have one uncommon item from the DMG and I was just in the process of writing down the Rod of the Pact Keeper as he started to explain it. How big are the chances?!
Hunger of Hadar is such a powerful spell it not only forces a camera cut but also a cut of Matt's hair Also getting reduced to INT 0 in most D&D is just instant death. You're beyond brain dead, you're just a zombie at BEST
Topic proposal: How to manage a war in D&D. I had this question days ago and had to ask other DMs and even my cousin who was the one who intruduced me in the world of D&D. We made a table with the armies VP and their damge, a table of scripted events happening during the war and a table of random encounters during the war. I would like to hear your opinion in this subject Matthew!
"In Kolville kampaign, dungeon explores you."
Crap! Just scrolled through a few comments, and I see I'm not such a comedic genius after all.
Komedy
You're how I imagine a stern bear would look facing down a wind tunnel.
That's a compliment, btw.
How do I favourite comments
👍
I love the randomness of this comment lmao
@@Madcowe LE EBIN RANDOM XD
do you also narwhal the bacons le dear siree
@@algumnomeaihehe bruh is your username a cheat code? XD
Remember folks, if you feel weird about picking your player's magic items you can always make your own 1d1 Magic Item tables to roll on randomly, rerolling dupes of course...
If you're re-rolling dupes you just need a table with all the items for a lair (so 4-6 in his case). It's undoubtedly a table of magic items.
I demand Matthew Colville narrated audio books, with an assortment of Klignon Dwarf and Raspy Dragonborn voices. You could sell that for 5 bucks of which you see 5 bucks. :)
Xanhorn
I’m now picturing a tiny enraged Klingon with Matt’s voice screaming and swinging one of those ridiculous “swords” around. The mental image of a Klingon dwarf is hilarious. Ik you probably meant to put a coma between them but still...
Rob Eckz I think he meant how Matt’s dwarves are “like short Klingons”
Then be certain to volunteer your services as a narrator.
Technically her'd have to pay someone to edit it and someone to host the audios, so realistically he'd see about 2 or 3$ out of 5.
Glyph of Warding is indeed in 5e, though it's considerably stronger than you made it. 5d8 acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder damage, OR you can attach a spell to it instead.
I love it.
Nick Potter I use it to make large flour bombs.
Shouldnt the human have been able to smell it? (Since matt said humans can smell magic)
+1d8 per spell slot above Level 3.
It can also "store" a Level 3 (or higher, if using a higher spell slot) spell like Fireball etc. to be cast on whoever triggered it.
"You have 10 minutes!"
Two hours bickering later... "Your time is up!"
This is the only channel I actually get excited for when I see a new video.
+NSA_iswatchingus Same here! I got the alert while at work and I almost just watched it on my phone lol
The Tilted Gamer Podcast & Friends I tottaly Agree
Agreed. I just recently found his channel after searching for info on learning to DM since my current DM wants to play a character. I love Matt. He's helped so much.
... I've never thought of giving magical ammo..... *stores that away for later*
"Oh, I've given you no word to keep. In my judgment you simply have no alternative." YEAH! Thank you -- a quote from one of my favorite movies. As in, had the thing memorized and with my brothers could recite it chapter and verse at random moments any time and at the slightest provocation. You rock, Matt!
I would say moving the secret door was simply a deja vu Glitch in the Matrix.
In Soviet Russia, Dungeon Explores You!
I think that its fine to describe a smell as like ozone, or use other modern references that the characters don't understand to describe things. The idea is you aren't saying "your character knows there is ozone", you are trying to evoke imagery and convey what the character is sensing. The characters might not understand what these things are, but they aren't the ones who have to imagine it - the players are.
Very good point
I use this all the time. I'll say "You see the sun, but it's black, with a white halo around and above it. To your characters, this is an omen of the apocalypse. And they are right, because to you, their horsemen, you know it not to be the sun, but it's corpse. A black hole writhes in the sky."
Dude, if you keep this upload rate, you will spoil us
+Denner Evangelho da Cruz
Already spoiled.
How right you were
One of the best "inside baseball" channels on D&D.
I hope they get you on Critical Role soon (and often).
Three years later, and he still has not been a guest on CR.
@@TheodoreMinick he did write the first volume of their comic book though!
that time Grog on Critical Role was tagged by an Intellect Devourer.
I should get a pair of X'd out sunglasses for my players for when they get knocked out!
8:02 "there are reasons for that we don't need to go into"
... please, go. tell us those reasons xD
I'd really like to know
This is like a mini-critical role, and I love it. I watch this as much as I watch that but this is great for when I don't have a 4 hour sit-down but still need a juicy adventure.
Listening to these diaries has helped me more than almost anything when it comes to getting a feel for how to run or play in sessions. I love how Matt's games have such an old-school feel even with newer rules.
Bro I'm also a DM and I just like to say you are brilliant. I been a DM for 10 year or so and u really inspire me
If you've seen one giant hammer, you've seen a maul.
I really like these campaign diary videos for a reason completely from why I enjoy watching Crit-Role. I like watching /your/ videos not because I feel particularly invested in the adventure or the characters, but because I love hearing your assessments about the actual play experience. What you were anticipating vs what happened, how you change things about the game in response to the player's actions, game design theory, etc. It's really interesting stuff and those lessons are my real takeaways with these videos.
Frankly, I love the idea of a DM-sided campaign log. It's super interesting to hear how a DM/GM planned for a game and what they had to do to account for all the unexpected shit PCs do.
As usual, can't wait for your next upload!
Hey Matthew!
I've been watching your videos for about a month now.
Just today I ran a new game for my friends in a brand new setting with new characters etc..
Honestly after two years of running games for these guys, I have never seen them have a better time or have myself enjoy it more.
So I'd like to say thanks for making this awesome channel and helping people like me to be better Dungeon Masters.
So in short keep doing what you're doing! It's great. :)
I'm super excited about your next video! I have done 100% original stuff in the past, and it's really burned me out. I think being able to watch you convert published material into custom personal stuff will be really helpful and inspiring.
So, thank you! I really appreciate you churning out this great free content.
"GUARD!" Must be hard splicing audio in when you talk fast
lol I saw that too.
Mathew, your channel is exactly what i was looking for without knowing what i wanted when i decided to watch something D&D related.
That was such an epic battle description. It got me super hyped, so I can only imagine how amazing it was for your players actually fighting through it.
The "Colville Screw" and the dungeon coming to explore you, reminds me of that race from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy that is constantly evolving and since they've been everyone they can appreciate all people's points and that this appreciation is military in nature.
Fantastic concept with the "activation" of the Shield of Andrim (SP?) Matthew Colville! Genius!
Love your 'earning it' message! Also really excited for your proposed tool. Thank you for the regular videos Matt!
Buying your books soon, love your videos! Thank you so much for everything you have given to the RPG community. As a person who is brand new to the whole D&D scene I have learned more DM tips from you than any other source. Also, being deployed to the one of the crappiest places on the planet, the contributions you've made to our campaign have stopped most of us from suck starting a pistol! Thanks so much for everything you do, keep it up!
I love the idea of, effectively, a DM "walkthrough", step-by-step in how to prep for an adventure. I was scanning through your videos, Mr. Colville, and I wasn't quite sure if you'd made one yet. Has one been made yet, at this time?
EDIT: Oh! Or is that the "twitch builds a D&D world" playlist?
Is Ajax's real name Francis?
No, it's Ajax.
Saint Francis.
mousey76397 francis!!!
WHERE THE FUCK IS FRANCIS?!?!?!!!!
TELL ME WHERE YOUR FUCKING BOSS IS! OR YOU'RE GUNNA DIE!.... In five minutes.
So I've been writing my own D&D material for my players for the first time. I think you probably helped me do that, so thanks. I'm making some personalized side quests to go along with the module I'm running.
OMG MORE VIDEOS.
I've binge watched all of them in the last few days. Matt, this series is awesome!
Excitedly looking forward to your "how I prep a session" video.
More more more!!!
"I'm going to start making these videos shor FORTY MINUTE GRAND SLAM."
PS: I love it.
The intellect devourer is a blast from the past for me. Neverwinter Nights was my first experience with DnD and roleplay gaming in general. That was one of the waterdavian creatures you have to find, and was my first boss battle in that game.
Wow, your storytelling is SO engaging. Literally at the edge of my seat here!! Awesome :D
I smell fudge!
Explaining: On Warehouse 13 (a TV series) the smell of fudge was both evidence of an artifact (kind of like a magical item) as well as the characters "slang" to say they thought or knew an artifact was involved... And the fun of the reference is lost.Also, that is an interesting "ability" for humans as a race to have, might add something of the sorts on my brewin campaign. Thanks!
I know it’s an old video, but when you mention how the orcs couldn’t bring all of their forces to bear, my first thought was the 300 against the Persians. Terrain makes a difference!
Hi Matt! I was listening to your podcast yesterday while creating my adventure for Saturday. I'm looking forward to hearing how you prepare your adventures as its something I'm always trying to get better at. Thanks for these videos!
Matt!!! I think that your idea for showing all your prep for a campaign/session in a later video would be phenomenal! It is always interesting to take some tips or tricks other DMs employ and try them in my sessions. I love seeing how they go off with my players.
Great video as usual. Love hearing about your campaign. It helps get the juices flowing for me as well. I just came up with a legendary item that I introduced to my players at 1st level. They had no idea that it was legendary. Heck, neither did I until just now! I never really thought about giving my low level players epic magic items that react to their actions. I think that is a really cool idea!
Have an interview today and was excited to see that you posted a video. They really helped calm down my nervousness.
Good luck!
Absolutely love this! Long videos are great and this campaign makes me jealous .
Spoiling us this week, Matthew! Keep em coming. It's all really good stuff!
Hey Matt, love the campaign diaries, and I love that you are still tying DM tips into this kind of video.
The next thing I want to talk about is the idea of using pre-written campaigns vs making your own story. I've been hearing a lot recently about how most new DMs shouldn't bother making an original campaign since there is so much already out there. And that there are so many more benefits to using a pre-written adventure compared to making your own. And this kind of thinking is discouraging me from going with a campaign that I had in mind for my players for my first time DMing, a story line that I came up with myself. Can you talk about the merits of running an original campaign over running a pre-written one? I know you mostly use pre-written adventures, but I'd like to hear your thoughts on the benefits of original story's vs pre-written ones. Thanks, and again, love these videos.
Excellent video, I've been DMing for years and you still manage to teach me new things!
Ahh, the pseudo magnanimous villain :) Always good! Loving these series! Thank you.
Was the metallic smell of magic inspired by Discworld, by chance? 😆
I like the idea of magic having a sort of radiation effect, like an near-imperceptable whine, a static charge, or the sting you get in your teeth when you're near too much metal.
31:45 and 32:50 - watch Matt's hair drastically shift
+Ant Wu Yeah you'll sometimes see that when I have to record an insert a day after the original recording and I can't get my hair to behave.
+Matthew Colville yeah i don't know why but your tone of voice dramatically shifted and it was rather jarring. I was like "hold on somethings different here". sent me down into the great darkness of the youtube comments section to find this.
+Ant Wu I"m pretty sure that Matt was Teen Wolf.
Ant Wu Lol dude I first noticed that and went back and forth to figure out happened. He showered and then combed his hair. He then returned to the video to edit the footage and recorded some more with his hair damp.
Yeah.... i have too much free time on my hands.
Thank you for this amazing channel, Matt. Watching your How To's and diary videos have helped me improve tremendously as a DM. Keep up the great work, kind sir. :)
Hot gates 300. Always cool to listen to your recaps. I always hear something inspiring for something. Thanks for sharing Matt.
"Argh! I have to stop keeping the stuff made to kill me in my keep!"
-Bone-Breaker Dorokor after being shot by an arrow of orc-slaying
I love listening to your campaign stories!
"I'll give you ten minutes"
*immediately puts armor on in panic*
Just discovered these a few days ago. Im loving these and i cant wait to catch up
i doubt your players will accuse you of "taking it easy" on them after you murdered that wizard . i really like these. i just finished the running the games, and im catching up on these. good stuff. thanks
Just wanted to let you know how awesome your video's are. They've really pumped up my enthusiasm for DM'ing. I was so-so about it but now I'm raring to go.
Still feel like there's.. too much for me to do to make it fun.. but I think that's just the over-prep nature of my personality
Anyways, love these. Going to keep watching them over and over as I prep
Matt.... yes please do a DETAILED video on "prepping".... I am a new DM and could definitely use the help. ... please!
Also, your videos are absolutely amazing
I get so excited for your videos. They are the cure to writers block.
Sweet, cant wait for the "how to prep for an adventure" episode
I'm really interested in why magical items give off an ozone smell in your world. That's a really interesting detail.
Just binge watched all of your content Matt. I've learnt so much from you as a DM already and look forward to future videos.
I'd follow your hairy bugbear ass into battle any day!
The shield activating idea is superb. Also the Khan retort is pretty good.
:D!!!! 40 minutes of Matt! Super excited. Good Birthday present!
"You might think that it felt like I was giving Graves a *get out of jail free card*"
Hah. Idk if that was intentional but that was great
I want a gif of you doing that Eyebrow thing after mentioning Wound.
I want a vid on the sinister DM deviltry behind the "eyebrow thing". I am intrigued!!! :D
Just checked; a glyph of warding with an explosive effect does 5d8 fire, acid, cold, lightning, or thunder on a failed save in a 20ft sphere. Yikes.
This video was amazing. I loved every second.
From 31:43 to 32:49 your hair game was not as strong as normal, but it looked like maybe you were faster. Did someone cast haste on you?
This was so amazing! I definitely need to find a D&D group!
Shield of Andurim sounds awesome! Love when there are unique magic items... :)
Just for reference if you haven't checked already, yes Glyph of Warding does exist, but it does 5d8 damage or half as much on a successful save. Against a 3rd level party I would say your assumption of damage dice was appropriate.
I love these Campaign Diaries.
I've just binge watched all the way from your first video and now I'm all caught up. And now I'm all sad :(
I love magic items/weapons. The more story they have behind them the better.
That "humans sensing magic" thing is awesome. Turns out I clean buildings with magic every day! We get it from this machine that dilutes the magic into water.
your storytelling is very exciting and it pulls me in, and you are one of the few people to get me into d&d and I thank you for that!
also you must tell me how you got your hair to change suddenly, that is an amazing trick!
Nothing really to add. Really enjoy these recaps. Also, you said "do do".
6d10 + 1d8 + 1d6... that's not an arrow, that's a Sidewinder!
Nice godzilla scripting moment at the start. xD "he managed to bypass the orc sentry by using his telepathy to convince the.. [GUARD] .." XD
"The White Arrow does this:"
Let's see, that's 5d10, a d8, a d6, and... The ten's place for a percentile pair. I really hope that 90 on the latter die is actually a 90.
33:07
*one of Matt's players*:JEESUS CROIST
monty python reference
April 10th "I'm going to keep it light"
May 12th "40 minutes"
Moving the secret door is a good trick. Honestly I’d go as far as moving the secret room entirely if need be.
Man that bit about the War Priest being allowed to be a WAR priest just reminds me of why I hated always having to play the cleric because no one else would.
Mostly because everyone just viewed your job as not the Fist of the Gods, but the Walking HP Dispenser. So they'd always get annoyed if you "risked" yourself in combat side by side with your brothers in arms. They'd get annoyed if you "Wasted" a spell on anything other than healing or buffing up the party. You'd have theoretically cool powers... that you never got the chance to do because you were the only one who could do very specific things so they demanded you did them.
And it got tiring. I remember a lot of unsatisfied sessions where I ended up just bored and discontent, knowing I couldn't actually do the things I wanted to do without sparking strife about how I was not doing my jobs and such of "Hide away from the enemy and top us up after/during the fight".
And I know a lot of people will look at the game because they joined in third edition, or fifth, and say: "That's not what being a cleric is, they kick butt!". But... it wasn't what they were originally. Lots of reasons for it. From the relative paucity of magic swag (not like every single little collection of farms had a store you could buy cheap healing potions at), to the relative lack of spells (Clerics only having spells level 1-7, no Cantrips or higher levels), to the way Cleric spells were gained (depending on deity you only had access to certain types of spells up to certain levels), and so on.
I feel so much for anyone in that plight of sitting there, having no fun, realizing that they're forced to ditch anything fun they thought they were making due to the group pressure.
Hey Matt, this is my first time commenting here, I really like your videos! I was also wondering how you manage to balance encounters for PCs who seem to be armed to the teeth with magic items, as yours is!
I think I can see where you're going with the resource idea. Best of luck with the series, can't wait for the next video!
Question. Do you announce the names of NPC's when they appear? Or do you wait a couple of sessions, the players then hear about this person and when they seem him/her "they know" who it is?
Do you announce the name of the weapon(s) they are using, ala Boonbreaker's weapon Wound?
Just curious on how you did that. Great to see how other DM's deal with interactions.
And love the shield btw. Fantastic. I used to include scabbards that would up player's AC until they drew the sword that it held, then once it was drawn, it functioned as a normal scabbard. Of course players try to figure out a way to get the bonus all the time... :D
Thank you for doing what you do, Matt!
These videos have inspired me to run a campaign for some of my coworkers, and I am extremely thankful for all the advice that you've been giving so far! I would ask for one piece of advice though: I run a homebrewed setting campaign for another party, and we have just about finished an arc. When you complete an arc in your campaign and your party is experienced and ambitious enough to potentially have some disagreements about what they wish to do in terms of their next questline, how would you prepare the next arc? Would you advise preparing starting sessions for the next three or four potential questlines or attempt to railroad them on to a path you prefer or would you advise some third option?
What was that at 1:08 ? It cuts to say "guard" but he clearly says something else
+Kindkiller43 I accidently said "Warlock" which was both wrong and confusing!
+Matthew Colville Best errata ever
GUARD
Another great video, Matt. I do have one question. You said your players are around level 3 or 4. What's your thought on the progression of magic items so far? From what I've read, "normal" parties usually don't even get to +1 items till level 5 or so, and your party already is rocking some insane +2 items that have additional benefits. Do you feel like the power progression might get out of hand by higher levels?
+Seth Hagen If you look at Mines of phandelver, the party can get +1 items before reaching level 3. A +1 bonus isn't all that significant in 5E. Advantage and Resistances are far more useful.
I suppose, but also with bounded accuracy and +3 bonuses being roughly a cap, it seems nuts to me to have +2 at level 3 or 4 already.
When the new monster appeared at the end, I was first thinking that this is all getting incredibly complex.
But actually, no it isn't. It's all very simple, but for the players. who have to guess what it might all mean, all the different possibilities they can think of make it really complex.
You will probably talk about in one of future videos but i'll ask anyway:
What are your favorite accessories as DM ?
Regarding Carolor (?) the Vile leaving the defeated party alive. There could be reasons he'd do this.
1) He doesn't care if they live or die; they are scum and beneath his notice.
2) Killing someone you don't know could mean you gain a powerful foe - is that the son of a local Lord?
3) The right fearful word can solve problems before they occur, and the party should be plenty fearful!
You know the game is good when the DM is having fun
I am really enjoying these videos, and I have some good ideas for my own campaign.
Feel compelled to mention Hunger of Hadar is a 3rd level spell though, not 4th.
Man. I wish I could game with you. It sounds like you can host a rocking game!
16:50 is like the biggest coincidence I´ve ever witnessed. As I´m writing this I´m in the progress of creating a Lvl 5 Warlock for a One-Shot. I´m allowed to have one uncommon item from the DMG and I was just in the process of writing down the Rod of the Pact Keeper as he started to explain it. How big are the chances?!
Hunger of Hadar is such a powerful spell it not only forces a camera cut but also a cut of Matt's hair
Also getting reduced to INT 0 in most D&D is just instant death. You're beyond brain dead, you're just a zombie at BEST
Zombies have an INT of 3... You're dumber than the dead if you get your INT reduced that far.
Topic proposal: How to manage a war in D&D.
I had this question days ago and had to ask other DMs and even my cousin who was the one who intruduced me in the world of D&D. We made a table with the armies VP and their damge, a table of scripted events happening during the war and a table of random encounters during the war.
I would like to hear your opinion in this subject Matthew!
My group has had tremendous luck shooting randomly found magical arrows without ever identifying them. I highly recommend it.