41:10 Holy crap, you read my mess of a review...?! O_o In my defense I loved "Priest," I liked "Thief," and I'm looking forward to "Fighter," as Teagan is pretty badass, and you've got a lot of really good mysteries that need solving (or killing). Please don't mistake disappointment for outright dislike; I'm glad I read it. $4 is a steal for refreshingly good fantasy writing. I would have easily paid a few dollars more for the Kindle versions of both books.
If you're bouncing off Deadhouse Gates, try Memories of Ice - it takes place concurrently to DG and continues the story of Gardens of the Moon! It's also an amazing, jaw-dropping, heart-breaking story that's (in my opinion) the best in the series.
Hi, I found your channel and your catalog of videos because of a video you did about Fantasy Grounds. SInce then, I've watched them all and bought and read your book Priest (well done, btw!) I really enjoyed the "History of D&D" and building a fighter through the progression of versions. I hope you find the time to go back to that and finish it. Speaking of time.. I don't know how you find the time to do all that you do - but it's greatly appreciated.
I absolutely love this. Upset I missed the stream so I tweeted a question at you, but I assume things like that get lost in the void of Twitter. I'll catch the next one for sure! Your ability to speak from experience is amazing. Look forward to the next one.
On the topic of armor class, and forgive me I haven't googled any discussions on the subject, I also found it to be unacceptable from a logical stand point - why would armor make you harder to hit? Upon further thinking on the subject, I came to the following conclusion: If we assume that any attack below AC isn't a straight miss, but rather an ineffective attack (sometimes due to missing, ofc) that was negated by the armor because your attack failed to get to any point where it could do damage - it is logical that having better armor makes it harder for the attack to get to those points (as they are more covered/behind harder material/etc). When the armor fails to prevent the attack from doing damage, you suffer equal damage because the attack managed to hit a point where it could do damage (either because it was an exposed part, between plates, or just straight through the armor), and it has the potential to do as much damage regardless of what was in the way. tldr; I don't see AC as being harder to hit with an attack, but rather that it's harder to get to the points that do damage with an attack. You still do the same damage when you get through because the armor failed to absorb the strike. Perhaps this might help those that have trouble getting past AC being unrealistic.
I'd just like to say i finished reading thief today and i really enjoyed it. I'm glad to hear your working on the next book and am looking forward to it.
For the premade characters (like "why can't I find a level 8 Monk if I need it for an NPC"), tabletopping dot net has great templates, and wizards also uploaded some pre-genned characters to their site. I use those for templates and then just alter them, works great!
I bet you've already been told this, but GeeknSundry just put up an article about you the same day as this went up on YT :D It's funny cause I had literally just finished bingeing through all your videos when I saw it, so it really made me smile :D
The armour absorbs damage thing, that same issue has bugged me for ever, Some deflection makes sense, but lack of any damage mitigation makes no sense to me. I've wondered if a lazy conversion could be to half all AC rounded down, that's now the AC it gives. Half (original) AC rounded up, that's your damage reduction. I chose the effective split to be that way for odd numbers because padded/leather doesn't really deflect, but it can absorb, so it made the most sense if you want a lazy conversion. The issue here is that damage reduction doesn't scale as well as avoidance for big hits. And it works a bit too well (at absorbing lots of little hits). Personally, my biggest issue is attack and damage roles. I've always felt the margin of success beyond what was needed should determine the severity of the damage done (which technically would make standard AC work as damage reduction). That and a D20 being a poor representation of the probability of the success of any given action(that's a lot of of's). It's not a perfect system but it's popular easier to get people interested in and to just have fun with.
having armour make you harder to hit does make sense; armour is very effective and does not absorb damage, it block it. You have to hit where the armour is not so, the more armour you have the smallest the valid target.
At around 33:00 you are talking about how you award XP. I generally tend to award the XP on a per-encounter level, but I don't allow them to level up until they are taking an extended rest at a safe location (town, stronghold, or a heavily fortified dungeon room).
I would add the Shannara books, by Terry Brooks, to your list of D&D inspiring books, as well as perhaps The Black Company series, Glen Cook, and both the Taltos and Phoenix Guards series by Stephen Brust. All fantastic reads in my opinion.
I completely agree with not using experience points. I think that your reward system should match the emphasis of your campaign. If your players are all about combat and getting kills by all means use experience points. I mean, that is how every game I played during high school went and we had tons of fun. However, if you and your players are much more interested in story, then it makes sense for characters to grow as the story progresses.
Totally go to the end of the book after reading the start - the exception being the Witcher novels (and a few others). Halfings are awesome if you roll 1s on a regular basis and Gnomes are pretty cool to with their saves. Loving your vids BTW (another one found you from CR)!
I have a suggestion for something to go over, maybe do an episode about. How to do NPCs! It's probably my weakest skill as a GM. I'm not good at making them have a personality, or an accent, or the worst part, deciding what they would do or how they would react in any given situation. Keep it up!
What do you think of point buy system for stats? I have seen two ways of point buy. One is the standard 27 point buy. I like that and I always keep a few backup character concepts handy using it as a baseline for stats or just to have a character ready to go. But the 27 point buy doesn't allow for a stat below 8. Sometimes I may want to have that ultra low charisma or wisdom or even strength. Another I have heard of was 72 point buy. Everything starts at 0 and you buy stats simply out of the pool with no stat being able to go above an 18 after racial bonuses so you can't start off with a 20. While this allows for you to have a really strong barbarian and even monk at the beginning, it does allow you to have that 4 wisdom or 8 intelligence if you want. What I don't like about rolling for stats now is that it doesn't really let you play the character you want. For example, you want to play a gnome fighter. None of the stats you roll are above a 12. Since you are a gnome, not even your racial bonuses lets you have a strength past 12. Technically, you couldn't even multiclass into the fighter. While I know people always say to embrace the low stats but what about the mediocre ones? I was going to be entering a campaign as a gnome eldritch fighter who wields a mighty war pick and I rolled a 13, 10, 12, 9, 9, 11. It was awful.
Re the blind character, there's an Oracle in Pathfinder with the blindness curse but has blindsight/tremor sense. Could be ported into 5e fairly easily I imagine.
one solution that has worked to deal with a bad DM is similar to what Matt said. have your entire gaming group collaborate to build a new world that each person will take turns running a "dungeon" in. every single person does not need to take their turn if some are not interested and everyone agrees it is ok, but it will give that "bad DM" examples of what other people may want a game to run like. they may not be a bad DM, they may just not know any better or have a good example. they may simply not have enough experience yet. we can not all be a "Matt" (take your pick). be well
Hey Matt I haven't finish the video, but I just saw in my head a player with an animal like a hawk that will give the screeches for the vision impaired character the pinpoint the enemies. and every so often the animal will sit perch or sit down and the player can use the spell to see through the animal. ^.^
I guess gold pieces can kinda be seen as points. The fewer resources you use going through the dungeon the more gold you get to keep. If resting adds more encounters, it stands to reason that you are going to use more resources if you rest too much, and in the end you'll have fewer GP (gold points).
I personally agree that the AC system is a bit weird. I definitely preferred the armor system of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (20 years ago). It makes even less sense in Fifth Edition with the removal of Touch AC, with spells being deflected by armor.
papercraft! Dollar tree foam board for the win! Hot glue, a razor and foam board. you have everything you need for terrain, dice towers, rc airplanes, anything!
Hey Matt, it occurred to me when mentioning some of Gary's real influences in the creation of D&D you left out of the most important, Dying Earth by Jack Vance. The magic system is lifted straight out of that.
When my party rested in a dungeon, in a non-safe room, they rolled a random encounter. Then they were like, "OK, now we rest". And they rolled another random encounter. That day they learned they can't just rest in the middle of a dungeon. :D
Huzzah!! Someone else who likes Buckaroo Banzai!! I use "Laugh while you can Monkeyboy!!" similar to the way you use "I am a river to my people", but in different context of course! "Remember, where ever you go, there you are."
+Matthew Colville I'm loving your channel. I read both of your books and I'd like to help edit them for a future release. Any way I can send you a list of edits and suggestions? Example: the top of the pages in Thief all say "Priest"
as many wonderful authors that you mention, I am surprised that you have not mentioned Anne McCaffery. what is your opinion of (Dragonriders of) Pern, and all of the rest of her many books? Robinton is one of my favorite characters in all of literature, of any genre. How about Zelazny, Heinlein, Andre Norton, Silverberg, Gordo Dickson, Mercedes Lackey, to say nothing of Jules Verne, Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Rice Burroughs, or Alexandre Dumas (my first love) etc. doesn't every rpg player take D'artagnan as inspiration, at least a bit? what would you think of perhaps having a stream at some point just to discuss great fantasy/sci fi literature and it's correlation to gaming, and rpg's in particular?
In the rpg Shadowrun the PCs armor absorbs the damage. If the PC received six points of damage and the armor absorbs two then you only take four. Simple.
the plastic ones are nice, but if you get yourself some card stock you can make your own when you are just getting started, or just cheap like me. admittedly they will probably not be as nice, but they will work, and it is relatively cheap, easy, and flexibly versatile. just cut a little slot down the middle of the base end of the "figure", and then a cross piece with a slot in the middle about the same length. insert one into the other and adjust so that it stands, and, voila! your own custom made figures of what ever you need! hope this helps someone be well
Question for you Matt as a writer; How do you figure out your stories? I have wanted to write a book for a while now but I always seem to run myself into a wall.
RE: DMing for kids. I DM for my 6yo daughter. She's very engaged in the story. But she also loves her flametongue sword and +1 armour of fire resistance.
"John just wants to play with me for the same reasons i want to play with him, and that is: He is awesome to hang out with and awesome to play games with and just awesome in general." Well, well, well... See, who just accidantally bragged about himself.^^ (
I know this is no option, but I would love to have you as a DM! Im loving this game, I even bought the Players Manual 5e, the starter set from 3.5 e and the one from 5e. And I have never played the game for more than 1 hour :P EDIT: You should look up Tabetopsimulator, awesome program for Pen and Paper .
I looooooooove Conan since I was a kid. Have you read Skull-Face? It's a contemporary-time story by Howard and my favorite of his writing, deeply racist and eurocentric but awesome nonetheless.
I also dislike that 5e decided it didn't like magic items. So I'm sticking with 4e since I already knew it, and already liked it. Plus I don't have to deal with CR. Though I admit that I like game balance and making every fight it's own little SRPG.
I think Jim and I agree on armor in DND. I enjoy the system currently but I have a deep yearning to play a very deadly combat version of it. Health based on Attack class (from 3.5, bad/average/good gets 1/2/3 HP per level modified by Con) and Armor = Damage absorption with Raw Dex being difficulty to hit (18 dex means your AC is 18) None of my group is brave enough to do this with me and it makes me sad :(
I have thought of taking it further, where heavier armor reduces your speed and makes you easier to hit, and factoring in different offensive and defensive maneuvers more. Dex can be the base for chance to hit, but skill and encumbrance should come into the equation as well.
Ghostfather well it kind of becomes a trade off of in depth mechanics that take time to resolve proper values for or a streamlined version that abstracts some of those values for the sake of pacing and ease of use. I'm one that loves to drill down into those kinds of nitty gritty mechanics and try to master somewhat obtuse systems but it's not always for everyone. I had to dial back quite a bit to end up with what I think works fairly well in a setting with modified rules to compliment a tough system for my friends and they still don't even really want to play it
ColdSiris if you are looking for a system with a bit more detail and logic have you seen the GURPS/Champions superhero game system? it is necessarily a bit more cumbersome, but once everyone gets used to it can flow just fine. I loved it when it came out, and thought GURPS (Generic Universal Role Playing System) would be the future of rpg's. it is designed to be able to handle any genre of RPG, and even cross genre, and maintain reasonable balance. the Champions pencil-paper system is NOT the same system that they used when the rights were sold to the computer game of the same name, which I am not at all fond of. be well
They are sorta unneccessary in his opinion. There are already plenty of small folk and because of the PHB it seems like you're forced to add them in. I added them in my setting. I've made them distinct from Halflings because they are, but I nonetheless placed both in the same region of Freimark because that's the space I could afford to give them.
i found out from another video that you did (forgot which one) but i wanted to post that I graduated from CSULB too. I couldnt comment when i watched it because i was in Beijing for a layover headed to South Korea
you made the comment to the effect of "the odds of 4 or five strangers getting together to play D&D and gelling are pretty bad", and I think I must disagree. the odds may not actually be good, I do not know for certain, but I think they would not be bad. perhaps I am just more optimistic, but I think that if you can get a handful of strangers together Who All Want To Play D&D the odds of them having a great deal in common, and being from the same general culture and temperament, are fairly good.will everyone get along and immediately become besties forever? probably not, but when does that ever happen anywhere? I do think that, even if it does not work out, it is a worthwhile effort in and of itself to reach out to new people, make new friends, especially from cultural groups you may not interact with. one of the favorite games I ever ran was when I was in my young 20's, and the players were a 50-ish game store owner, his 15 year old son and 13 year old daughter, and two friends of mine from a local punk band.the first session everyone was kind of nervous, and I focused on getting everyone into character a bit to stop them thinking about the characters across the table. the punks learned that the business guy was not "The Establishment", and he and his kids were actually kind of cool people. the store owner discovered that the punks were not just "dumb punks", but were actually quite politically motivated, in many similar ways as he was, just with different expression. the kids may have learned a bit more about freedom of self expression than their dad may have wished at that point in their lives, but they had a blast, were more popular in school just because they knew these guys, and the young lady joined a band later, and I always wondered if that game had that effect on her. So, play with strangers! any other D&D player may be a friend you just have not met yet, and may have something to teach you, or you them, or both!!! be well
Matt, regarding 1:12:30, if your world had different perspectives on history through different cultures, would you give each player from different cultures different summaries of "lore"?
Cool, was considering doing that in a game I'm thinking to start before too long. Also I realize now how terrible my question was. Yay for proofreading.
Nice! I challenge you to sing some Rush at the start of your next video. lol. Maybe some Trees, or Red Barchetta. I saw the Clockwork Angels concert. What would you do do run a one off game with Geddy and the gang? Or, are there other dream players that you would want to run for?
I find it interesting that you love Rush, as I do, but you hate gnomes. my best friend and I have had a long standing nickname for Geddy Lee; "The Angry Gnome". tell me you do not see it in your mind the next time you listen to him sing! heh heh I always picture Scanlan, from Critical Role, singing with the voice of Geddy Lee!
MikeinSanPedro I know, right?! you will never be able to un-see it!! just Look at him! he looks like a long haired gnome that was stretched out much too far on a rack, and then stayed that way! understand, I LOVE Rush, and Geddy!
you mention ideal party size, and I agree that more than 5 becomes an issue, if you are the only one managing the players turn order and readiness to take their turn. this is what, I feel, a Party Leader's job is mostly about. it is not that they get to make the decisions, it is that they, as well as the DM, are tracking who goes next, and discussing with them, and the rest of the party, what they will be doing. this reduces this "oh, it's my turn?" down time for each player, and they can be more productive, faster, when the DM turns their attention to each player in order. a good Party Leader can go a long way towards making a campaign so much better, and can be considered a skill just like DMing. more experienced players, like Critical Role and Acquisitions Inc. may not need as much help, but they are experienced groups. that being said, observe how long it takes Marisha/Keyleth or Ashley/Pike to just get going on what they are going to do on their turns sometimes, and you may understand how perhaps someone helping manage their time a bit better could move things along. this is not at all to knock on either of those fine ladies. I have nothing but respect and admiration for them both. I merely used them to illustrate the point. please no hate. I would point out that the the time between combat turns for each individual player is not the only issue. the time to debate party decision making can be drastically increased, as everyone always wants to have their say, thinks their agenda is most important, thinks their plan is best. yes this is an exaggeration, but I think you see what I am saying. again, though, I think this is where a good Party Leader (aka Cat Herder) can help streamline things, act as a moderator so the DM can more efficiently use Their time, call for votes, and generally handle the triage and priorities of the group as a whole. basically I think, more people equals more logistical complications, which means the DM will need more and more assistance to run a workable, enjoyable gaming session. the last point to make about more player, and I know this is a long comment, but this is important, is that it increases the likelihood that one or more players may not make it to any given session. life happens. people get sick, families have events, work schedules change, etc. if there is not redundancy in crucial roles the absence of one can ruin an entire session for everyone, or at least make it much more challenging. look at the issues Vox Machina had to overcome when Pike, their only Cleric, was left to rebuild the temple (because she moved to New York for work). yes, they survived, but if the had not had Keyleth, and a guest cleric at one point,they would have been in serious trouble. Again, not to hate on Pike, just making a point. So, the more the merrier may hold true, but, for D&D at least, the more players, the more chaos that will need managing, one way or another. be well
you mention in an earlier video that your analytics show people don't watch past 7 ish minutes. do those analytics allow you to see when people come back and pick the video back up? I've been watching this video over the last 2 days and I am only roughly 20 minutes in, but my intent is to finish this video over multiple sittings.
beyond the question of motivation, of "why would my character leave home to go adventuring", I think that the entire facet of playing a Role, developing a Character, is terribly under developed in every rpg I have played. they seem to treat it as something that should be gotten over and done with as fast as possible; here pick one of these dozen backstory categories, role once on these 4 tables, you get this this and this, and you are done. to me this is not a character, this is an order at a restaurant. I know they did it to streamline the process, many people do not want a story at all, they just want hack n slash and loot. I get that. some of us want to play a game that tells a story, that has depth of character and complexity of plot, and it seems at times that it is almost discouraged because of "The Rules". just sayin be well
For characters database you can try Myth-weavers: The people make their accounts and their characters and make them public or share them. The downside is that the site does not allow to download the sheets, even if you are the one who post them. www.myth-weavers.com/
It isn't that it makes it harder to hit. Say you roll a 15 and AC is 16 (14 without armor)... You hit, but not in a direct way enough because it glances off of the armor, due to its deflective capabilities.
Uh huh. "You hit! But did nothing" is not actually different from missing. So you can pitch it however you want. "You're broke! But really happiness is money, so you're rich." It won't work. It clever! It sounds good if you say it convincingly! But "missing" and "hitting with no effect" are the same thing. There are lots of RPGs where armor actually absorbs damage, so it's not like it can't be done to Jim's taste. D&D doesn't do it, and there's no point pretending like it does. Unless your goal is to patronize the person who doesn't like it! :D
Oh so he has a problem with the entire mechanic of a zero damage non-miss. Okay, I guess I had the wrong idea about it. He's thinking kevlar vs. bullet where there are still broken ribs, whereas I am thinking the momentum of a sword upon a pauldron carries sideways because of an imperfect slash or thrust. The thing I was trying to address is the common misconception that armor makes you shwifty, whereas it just gives you 5% chance increments of a glancing blow. If ya hate a mechanic because of a mechanic itself, then as you said, there is no getting around a difference in taste.
+Matthew Colville I always interpreted this way. If my AC is 16 and the monster got a 15 it's just flavor to consider if I got out of the way or if it hit me in the armor and it missed my "must hit here to hurt" zones.
I guess it ends up being how much someone can distance themselves from mechanics and their meaning in story. Or at least I assume that's his reason, he might just hate that one mechanic.
I don't like AC either, it leads to excessive missing while armour soak systems feel more realistic to me. I guess it's because it feels more like my armour is doing its job.
Hey Matt sorry I couldn't make it to the stream for this question but are you excited for or what are you hoping to see from the Storm King's Thunder module?
I, too, lament the day that paperback books got so big and thick and heavy that it quickly gets tiring to hold them with one hand. it seems counter intuitive, and lacking in economic sense. if they want write a book that is as long as three other books, why not just make three books?? wouldn't they get three times the income, or close to it?
sensitivity to sunlight is not exactly the same thing as a permanent visual impairment, but your point is well taken. a drow living in the above ground world would have some similar issues.
Talking about book series, have you read Raymond Feist "Riftwar Saga" series. I tried to read Donaldson, but had to stop when it got to that scene when he raped that girl. I just thought to myself why would I want to read a book about someone I don't like and probably even hate?
I can't be a player in Dungeons & Dragons. I find it to frustrating. Way to limiting and forced when it comes to character creation and the ways I want to express and explore a character. Sure a great GM can with some bit of work change things around, but it still don't change the character progression and indeed things like the armor class, and the fact that it don't work like Basic Roleplaying and actually Absorbs Damage. I don't have the same issues when being the GM. I find I'm there to entertain the players and have a great time using the system and changing it to for my players challenges and entertainment.
I opened this video ...and I immediately see Matt turn to me.... and I was like, IM ABOUT TO BE SERENADED!
So much fun tonight. Stand-up comics got nothin' on you reading Twitch chat! LMAO
lol 'we're almost done' at 31:10. Then look at the total video time, 1:46:31
Well played matt :P
Was going to comment on this. Checked comment section first, in case somone did. Good job, me :)
41:10 Holy crap, you read my mess of a review...?! O_o
In my defense I loved "Priest," I liked "Thief," and I'm looking forward to "Fighter," as Teagan is pretty badass, and you've got a lot of really good mysteries that need solving (or killing).
Please don't mistake disappointment for outright dislike; I'm glad I read it.
$4 is a steal for refreshingly good fantasy writing. I would have easily paid a few dollars more for the Kindle versions of both books.
If you're bouncing off Deadhouse Gates, try Memories of Ice - it takes place concurrently to DG and continues the story of Gardens of the Moon! It's also an amazing, jaw-dropping, heart-breaking story that's (in my opinion) the best in the series.
Oh lord thank you the Thirteenth Warrior reference. Once of my favorite movies ever. Feel so bad the movie did badly when it was released.
Hi, I found your channel and your catalog of videos because of a video you did about Fantasy Grounds. SInce then, I've watched them all and bought and read your book Priest (well done, btw!)
I really enjoyed the "History of D&D" and building a fighter through the progression of versions. I hope you find the time to go back to that and finish it.
Speaking of time.. I don't know how you find the time to do all that you do - but it's greatly appreciated.
I absolutely love this. Upset I missed the stream so I tweeted a question at you, but I assume things like that get lost in the void of Twitter. I'll catch the next one for sure! Your ability to speak from experience is amazing. Look forward to the next one.
On the topic of armor class, and forgive me I haven't googled any discussions on the subject, I also found it to be unacceptable from a logical stand point - why would armor make you harder to hit?
Upon further thinking on the subject, I came to the following conclusion:
If we assume that any attack below AC isn't a straight miss, but rather an ineffective attack (sometimes due to missing, ofc) that was negated by the armor because your attack failed to get to any point where it could do damage - it is logical that having better armor makes it harder for the attack to get to those points (as they are more covered/behind harder material/etc).
When the armor fails to prevent the attack from doing damage, you suffer equal damage because the attack managed to hit a point where it could do damage (either because it was an exposed part, between plates, or just straight through the armor), and it has the potential to do as much damage regardless of what was in the way.
tldr; I don't see AC as being harder to hit with an attack, but rather that it's harder to get to the points that do damage with an attack. You still do the same damage when you get through because the armor failed to absorb the strike.
Perhaps this might help those that have trouble getting past AC being unrealistic.
I really appreciated The Clash at the beginning-- always makin' my day, Matt!
I'd just like to say i finished reading thief today and i really enjoyed it. I'm glad to hear your working on the next book and am looking forward to it.
For the premade characters (like "why can't I find a level 8 Monk if I need it for an NPC"), tabletopping dot net has great templates, and wizards also uploaded some pre-genned characters to their site. I use those for templates and then just alter them, works great!
I bet you've already been told this, but GeeknSundry just put up an article about you the same day as this went up on YT :D It's funny cause I had literally just finished bingeing through all your videos when I saw it, so it really made me smile :D
So glad you do these, Matt.
The armour absorbs damage thing, that same issue has bugged me for ever, Some deflection makes sense, but lack of any damage mitigation makes no sense to me.
I've wondered if a lazy conversion could be to half all AC rounded down, that's now the AC it gives. Half (original) AC rounded up, that's your damage reduction. I chose the effective split to be that way for odd numbers because padded/leather doesn't really deflect, but it can absorb, so it made the most sense if you want a lazy conversion. The issue here is that damage reduction doesn't scale as well as avoidance for big hits. And it works a bit too well (at absorbing lots of little hits).
Personally, my biggest issue is attack and damage roles. I've always felt the margin of success beyond what was needed should determine the severity of the damage done (which technically would make standard AC work as damage reduction).
That and a D20 being a poor representation of the probability of the success of any given action(that's a lot of of's). It's not a perfect system but it's popular easier to get people interested in and to just have fun with.
having armour make you harder to hit does make sense; armour is very effective and does not absorb damage, it block it. You have to hit where the armour is not so, the more armour you have the smallest the valid target.
At around 33:00 you are talking about how you award XP. I generally tend to award the XP on a per-encounter level, but I don't allow them to level up until they are taking an extended rest at a safe location (town, stronghold, or a heavily fortified dungeon room).
I would add the Shannara books, by Terry Brooks, to your list of D&D inspiring books, as well as perhaps The Black Company series, Glen Cook, and both the Taltos and Phoenix Guards series by Stephen Brust. All fantastic reads in my opinion.
I completely agree with not using experience points. I think that your reward system should match the emphasis of your campaign. If your players are all about combat and getting kills by all means use experience points. I mean, that is how every game I played during high school went and we had tons of fun. However, if you and your players are much more interested in story, then it makes sense for characters to grow as the story progresses.
Totally go to the end of the book after reading the start - the exception being the Witcher novels (and a few others). Halfings are awesome if you roll 1s on a regular basis and Gnomes are pretty cool to with their saves. Loving your vids BTW (another one found you from CR)!
I bought that also. The guys selling it were awesome. The adventures were really fun.
I have a suggestion for something to go over, maybe do an episode about. How to do NPCs! It's probably my weakest skill as a GM. I'm not good at making them have a personality, or an accent, or the worst part, deciding what they would do or how they would react in any given situation. Keep it up!
What do you think of point buy system for stats?
I have seen two ways of point buy. One is the standard 27 point buy. I like that and I always keep a few backup character concepts handy using it as a baseline for stats or just to have a character ready to go. But the 27 point buy doesn't allow for a stat below 8. Sometimes I may want to have that ultra low charisma or wisdom or even strength.
Another I have heard of was 72 point buy. Everything starts at 0 and you buy stats simply out of the pool with no stat being able to go above an 18 after racial bonuses so you can't start off with a 20. While this allows for you to have a really strong barbarian and even monk at the beginning, it does allow you to have that 4 wisdom or 8 intelligence if you want.
What I don't like about rolling for stats now is that it doesn't really let you play the character you want. For example, you want to play a gnome fighter. None of the stats you roll are above a 12. Since you are a gnome, not even your racial bonuses lets you have a strength past 12. Technically, you couldn't even multiclass into the fighter. While I know people always say to embrace the low stats but what about the mediocre ones? I was going to be entering a campaign as a gnome eldritch fighter who wields a mighty war pick and I rolled a 13, 10, 12, 9, 9, 11. It was awful.
Re the blind character, there's an Oracle in Pathfinder with the blindness curse but has blindsight/tremor sense. Could be ported into 5e fairly easily I imagine.
"the Belgariad is fantasy root beer"
L O V E it!!!
First five minutes of the video, you solve a problem I could not solve for a week. TGFMC!
one solution that has worked to deal with a bad DM is similar to what Matt said. have your entire gaming group collaborate to build a new world that each person will take turns running a "dungeon" in. every single person does not need to take their turn if some are not interested and everyone agrees it is ok, but it will give that "bad DM" examples of what other people may want a game to run like. they may not be a bad DM, they may just not know any better or have a good example. they may simply not have enough experience yet. we can not all be a "Matt" (take your pick).
be well
Can you give us a definition of the Patented Colville Screw(tm) in writing so I can copy it to send to my friends?
Not sure if someone else pointed this out, but the Age of Conan game used a variation of the 3.5 rules where armor applied to DR and not AC.
Hi, I've come here nearly a year after the fact to say that that's not how Inn Fighting works at all. Sorry to make everyone wait so long!
Hey Matt I haven't finish the video, but I just saw in my head a player with an animal like a hawk that will give the screeches for the vision impaired character the pinpoint the enemies.
and every so often the animal will sit perch or sit down and the player can use the spell to see through the animal. ^.^
I guess gold pieces can kinda be seen as points. The fewer resources you use going through the dungeon the more gold you get to keep. If resting adds more encounters, it stands to reason that you are going to use more resources if you rest too much, and in the end you'll have fewer GP (gold points).
Blind: Monk all fighting from a grapple.
Blind: Wizard who can use his magic to detect and find and focus then attack?
I personally agree that the AC system is a bit weird. I definitely preferred the armor system of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (20 years ago). It makes even less sense in Fifth Edition with the removal of Touch AC, with spells being deflected by armor.
papercraft! Dollar tree foam board for the win! Hot glue, a razor and foam board. you have everything you need for terrain, dice towers, rc airplanes, anything!
Hey Matt, it occurred to me when mentioning some of Gary's real influences in the creation of D&D you left out of the most important, Dying Earth by Jack Vance. The magic system is lifted straight out of that.
When my party rested in a dungeon, in a non-safe room, they rolled a random encounter. Then they were like, "OK, now we rest". And they rolled another random encounter. That day they learned they can't just rest in the middle of a dungeon. :D
Huzzah!! Someone else who likes Buckaroo Banzai!! I use "Laugh while you can Monkeyboy!!" similar to the way you use "I am a river to my people", but in different context of course!
"Remember, where ever you go, there you are."
re: bad DM.
Be the change you wish to see in the world.
+Matthew Colville I'm loving your channel. I read both of your books and I'd like to help edit them for a future release. Any way I can send you a list of edits and suggestions? Example: the top of the pages in Thief all say "Priest"
Just tried listening to this at double speed. Wow.
I could not agree more with your thoughts on Wheel of Time Wasted.
Matt come up to Seattle!! WE love DnD and we love you, too!
As far as the whole "stuck in a video game mindset" thing, may I suggest 4th edition.
Love the Clash intro.
as many wonderful authors that you mention, I am surprised that you have not mentioned Anne McCaffery. what is your opinion of (Dragonriders of) Pern, and all of the rest of her many books? Robinton is one of my favorite characters in all of literature, of any genre.
How about Zelazny, Heinlein, Andre Norton, Silverberg, Gordo Dickson, Mercedes Lackey, to say nothing of Jules Verne, Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Rice Burroughs, or Alexandre Dumas (my first love) etc. doesn't every rpg player take D'artagnan as inspiration, at least a bit?
what would you think of perhaps having a stream at some point just to discuss great fantasy/sci fi literature and it's correlation to gaming, and rpg's in particular?
In the rpg Shadowrun the PCs armor absorbs the damage. If the PC received six points of damage and the armor absorbs two then you only take four. Simple.
Sounds like Jim would prefer a White Wolf game with Soak.
I really like those plastic minis! That would be great for a beginning DM or GM! Someone, capitalize on that!
the plastic ones are nice, but if you get yourself some card stock you can make your own when you are just getting started, or just cheap like me. admittedly they will probably not be as nice, but they will work, and it is relatively cheap, easy, and flexibly versatile. just cut a little slot down the middle of the base end of the "figure", and then a cross piece with a slot in the middle about the same length. insert one into the other and adjust so that it stands, and, voila! your own custom made figures of what ever you need! hope this helps someone
be well
Question for you Matt as a writer; How do you figure out your stories? I have wanted to write a book for a while now but I always seem to run myself into a wall.
RE: DMing for kids. I DM for my 6yo daughter. She's very engaged in the story. But she also loves her flametongue sword and +1 armour of fire resistance.
"John just wants to play with me for the same reasons i want to play with him, and that is: He is awesome to hang out with and awesome to play games with and just awesome in general." Well, well, well... See, who just accidantally bragged about himself.^^ (
Your friend must love the Palladium game systems. Armor there absorbs damage.
I doubt he's played it, his favorite game was The Fantasy Trip. He also liked Dragonquest.
I know this is no option, but I would love to have you as a DM! Im loving this game, I even bought the Players Manual 5e, the starter set from 3.5 e and the one from 5e. And I have never played the game for more than 1 hour :P
EDIT: You should look up Tabetopsimulator, awesome program for Pen and Paper
.
Great video, wish I could have watched it live. Did you see the new D&D adventure, Storm King's Thunder, announcement? Any thoughts?
I looooooooove Conan since I was a kid. Have you read Skull-Face? It's a contemporary-time story by Howard and my favorite of his writing, deeply racist and eurocentric but awesome nonetheless.
I also dislike that 5e decided it didn't like magic items.
So I'm sticking with 4e since I already knew it, and already liked it. Plus I don't have to deal with CR.
Though I admit that I like game balance and making every fight it's own little SRPG.
I think Jim and I agree on armor in DND. I enjoy the system currently but I have a deep yearning to play a very deadly combat version of it. Health based on Attack class (from 3.5, bad/average/good gets 1/2/3 HP per level modified by Con) and Armor = Damage absorption with Raw Dex being difficulty to hit (18 dex means your AC is 18)
None of my group is brave enough to do this with me and it makes me sad :(
I have thought of taking it further, where heavier armor reduces your speed and makes you easier to hit, and factoring in different offensive and defensive maneuvers more. Dex can be the base for chance to hit, but skill and encumbrance should come into the equation as well.
Ghostfather well it kind of becomes a trade off of in depth mechanics that take time to resolve proper values for or a streamlined version that abstracts some of those values for the sake of pacing and ease of use. I'm one that loves to drill down into those kinds of nitty gritty mechanics and try to master somewhat obtuse systems but it's not always for everyone. I had to dial back quite a bit to end up with what I think works fairly well in a setting with modified rules to compliment a tough system for my friends and they still don't even really want to play it
ColdSiris if you are looking for a system with a bit more detail and logic have you seen the GURPS/Champions superhero game system? it is necessarily a bit more cumbersome, but once everyone gets used to it can flow just fine. I loved it when it came out, and thought GURPS (Generic Universal Role Playing System) would be the future of rpg's. it is designed to be able to handle any genre of RPG, and even cross genre, and maintain reasonable balance. the Champions pencil-paper system is NOT the same system that they used when the rights were sold to the computer game of the same name, which I am not at all fond of.
be well
'Robbing Peter to pay Paul'. I find it funny to see you quote your own characters.
U wonder how Jim would feel about how Sagas RPG where you receive damage if the attack is "armor defeating" beyond simply being hit.
How long did it take you to write Priest? Did it take longer to write Thief?
You are Beholden to the Beholders. Circa 22 Min.
what do you have against gnomes XD ? I mean they arent that bad.
I don't like dumb things and they are dumb.
why are they dumb ? I find them a bit more interesting then halflings.
And you picked Yuan-Ti instead of Thri-Kreen?! You must hate awesome stuff like gnomes and Thri-kreen! I only kid.... mostly.
Shiiiii
Don't bring up the Gnomes!
You'll enrage the Bugbear D:
They are sorta unneccessary in his opinion. There are already plenty of small folk and because of the PHB it seems like you're forced to add them in. I added them in my setting. I've made them distinct from Halflings because they are, but I nonetheless placed both in the same region of Freimark because that's the space I could afford to give them.
Why do you think the low magic environment for 5e is a bad move? I thought making magic items rarer and more flavorful was an awesome idea!
pillars of eternity has a similar system to AC to what your friend believes armor should represent ....
i found out from another video that you did (forgot which one) but i wanted to post that I graduated from CSULB too. I couldnt comment when i watched it because i was in Beijing for a layover headed to South Korea
Matt I know you don't like Jordan but have you read anything by Sanderson? The Mistborn series is what I wish everyone of my campaigns was like.
Man I missed The Clash opening on the stream
...and Hall and Oates, one of my first concerts...right after Huey Lewis and the News
you made the comment to the effect of "the odds of 4 or five strangers getting together to play D&D and gelling are pretty bad", and I think I must disagree. the odds may not actually be good, I do not know for certain, but I think they would not be bad. perhaps I am just more optimistic, but I think that if you can get a handful of strangers together Who All Want To Play D&D the odds of them having a great deal in common, and being from the same general culture and temperament, are fairly good.will everyone get along and immediately become besties forever? probably not, but when does that ever happen anywhere? I do think that, even if it does not work out, it is a worthwhile effort in and of itself to reach out to new people, make new friends, especially from cultural groups you may not interact with. one of the favorite games I ever ran was when I was in my young 20's, and the players were a 50-ish game store owner, his 15 year old son and 13 year old daughter, and two friends of mine from a local punk band.the first session everyone was kind of nervous, and I focused on getting everyone into character a bit to stop them thinking about the characters across the table. the punks learned that the business guy was not "The Establishment", and he and his kids were actually kind of cool people. the store owner discovered that the punks were not just "dumb punks", but were actually quite politically motivated, in many similar ways as he was, just with different expression. the kids may have learned a bit more about freedom of self expression than their dad may have wished at that point in their lives, but they had a blast, were more popular in school just because they knew these guys, and the young lady joined a band later, and I always wondered if that game had that effect on her.
So, play with strangers! any other D&D player may be a friend you just have not met yet, and may have something to teach you, or you them, or both!!!
be well
Jesus Christ post a single cohesive comment.
The Swedish have a saying about taste.
Smaken är som baken, delad. That means; the taste is like the arse, divided.
we have a saying something like that in the US; opinions (taste) are like buttholes, everyone has one, and everyone else's stinks!
Matt, regarding 1:12:30, if your world had different perspectives on history through different cultures, would you give each player from different cultures different summaries of "lore"?
Oh yeah I do that all the time. Different peoples have different stories and histories of the world.
Cool, was considering doing that in a game I'm thinking to start before too long.
Also I realize now how terrible my question was. Yay for proofreading.
Matt, have you ever played a game with multiple DMs running simultaneously? How well does that work?
Nice RUSH shirt! Was that there last concert?
Next to last, I believe! Irvine Meadows.
Nice! I challenge you to sing some Rush at the start of your next video. lol. Maybe some Trees, or Red Barchetta. I saw the Clockwork Angels concert. What would you do do run a one off game with Geddy and the gang? Or, are there other dream players that you would want to run for?
I find it interesting that you love Rush, as I do, but you hate gnomes. my best friend and I have had a long standing nickname for Geddy Lee; "The Angry Gnome". tell me you do not see it in your mind the next time you listen to him sing! heh heh
I always picture Scanlan, from Critical Role, singing with the voice of Geddy Lee!
+Ghostfather Ha! I'm going to have a hard time not seeing Geddy as a gnome now.
MikeinSanPedro I know, right?! you will never be able to un-see it!! just Look at him! he looks like a long haired gnome that was stretched out much too far on a rack, and then stayed that way!
understand, I LOVE Rush, and Geddy!
Goddamn, you're an awesome DM, I wish I could have you DM me and friends
you mention ideal party size, and I agree that more than 5 becomes an issue, if you are the only one managing the players turn order and readiness to take their turn. this is what, I feel, a Party Leader's job is mostly about. it is not that they get to make the decisions, it is that they, as well as the DM, are tracking who goes next, and discussing with them, and the rest of the party, what they will be doing. this reduces this "oh, it's my turn?" down time for each player, and they can be more productive, faster, when the DM turns their attention to each player in order. a good Party Leader can go a long way towards making a campaign so much better, and can be considered a skill just like DMing. more experienced players, like Critical Role and Acquisitions Inc. may not need as much help, but they are experienced groups. that being said, observe how long it takes Marisha/Keyleth or Ashley/Pike to just get going on what they are going to do on their turns sometimes, and you may understand how perhaps someone helping manage their time a bit better could move things along. this is not at all to knock on either of those fine ladies. I have nothing but respect and admiration for them both. I merely used them to illustrate the point. please no hate.
I would point out that the the time between combat turns for each individual player is not the only issue. the time to debate party decision making can be drastically increased, as everyone always wants to have their say, thinks their agenda is most important, thinks their plan is best. yes this is an exaggeration, but I think you see what I am saying. again, though, I think this is where a good Party Leader (aka Cat Herder) can help streamline things, act as a moderator so the DM can more efficiently use Their time, call for votes, and generally handle the triage and priorities of the group as a whole.
basically I think, more people equals more logistical complications, which means the DM will need more and more assistance to run a workable, enjoyable gaming session.
the last point to make about more player, and I know this is a long comment, but this is important, is that it increases the likelihood that one or more players may not make it to any given session. life happens. people get sick, families have events, work schedules change, etc. if there is not redundancy in crucial roles the absence of one can ruin an entire session for everyone, or at least make it much more challenging. look at the issues Vox Machina had to overcome when Pike, their only Cleric, was left to rebuild the temple (because she moved to New York for work). yes, they survived, but if the had not had Keyleth, and a guest cleric at one point,they would have been in serious trouble. Again, not to hate on Pike, just making a point.
So, the more the merrier may hold true, but, for D&D at least, the more players, the more chaos that will need managing, one way or another.
be well
Do you have a list of must read authors/series?
and would you be willing to share?
I was thinking the same thing! Wish there was a list of the books he talks about.
Did I miss something about gnomes?
How do you export a hexographer as a photo? I want to put it into a Google docs for my campaign handout jiggy.
you mention in an earlier video that your analytics show people don't watch past 7 ish minutes. do those analytics allow you to see when people come back and pick the video back up? I've been watching this video over the last 2 days and I am only roughly 20 minutes in, but my intent is to finish this video over multiple sittings.
they all can stealth
Dammit D: My internet has given up on me right about the time of the stream ç.ç
Well youtube then >:
beyond the question of motivation, of "why would my character leave home to go adventuring", I think that the entire facet of playing a Role, developing a Character, is terribly under developed in every rpg I have played. they seem to treat it as something that should be gotten over and done with as fast as possible; here pick one of these dozen backstory categories, role once on these 4 tables, you get this this and this, and you are done. to me this is not a character, this is an order at a restaurant. I know they did it to streamline the process, many people do not want a story at all, they just want hack n slash and loot. I get that. some of us want to play a game that tells a story, that has depth of character and complexity of plot, and it seems at times that it is almost discouraged because of "The Rules". just sayin
be well
So what's your opinion on balance again? :P
For characters database you can try Myth-weavers: The people make their accounts and their characters and make them public or share them. The downside is that the site does not allow to download the sheets, even if you are the one who post them.
www.myth-weavers.com/
It isn't that it makes it harder to hit. Say you roll a 15 and AC is 16 (14 without armor)... You hit, but not in a direct way enough because it glances off of the armor, due to its deflective capabilities.
Uh huh. "You hit! But did nothing" is not actually different from missing. So you can pitch it however you want. "You're broke! But really happiness is money, so you're rich." It won't work.
It clever! It sounds good if you say it convincingly! But "missing" and "hitting with no effect" are the same thing.
There are lots of RPGs where armor actually absorbs damage, so it's not like it can't be done to Jim's taste. D&D doesn't do it, and there's no point pretending like it does. Unless your goal is to patronize the person who doesn't like it! :D
Oh so he has a problem with the entire mechanic of a zero damage non-miss. Okay, I guess I had the wrong idea about it. He's thinking kevlar vs. bullet where there are still broken ribs, whereas I am thinking the momentum of a sword upon a pauldron carries sideways because of an imperfect slash or thrust.
The thing I was trying to address is the common misconception that armor makes you shwifty, whereas it just gives you 5% chance increments of a glancing blow. If ya hate a mechanic because of a mechanic itself, then as you said, there is no getting around a difference in taste.
+Matthew Colville I always interpreted this way. If my AC is 16 and the monster got a 15 it's just flavor to consider if I got out of the way or if it hit me in the armor and it missed my "must hit here to hurt" zones.
I guess it ends up being how much someone can distance themselves from mechanics and their meaning in story.
Or at least I assume that's his reason, he might just hate that one mechanic.
I don't like AC either, it leads to excessive missing while armour soak systems feel more realistic to me.
I guess it's because it feels more like my armour is doing its job.
Hey Matt sorry I couldn't make it to the stream for this question but are you excited for or what are you hoping to see from the Storm King's Thunder module?
How about a blind Psionocist?
Good job Matt, tell the blind guy to go watch a film lmfao
I, too, lament the day that paperback books got so big and thick and heavy that it quickly gets tiring to hold them with one hand. it seems counter intuitive, and lacking in economic sense. if they want write a book that is as long as three other books, why not just make three books?? wouldn't they get three times the income, or close to it?
To the guy who asked about how to make a character with a visual impairment: Be a drow. They have a visual impairment as a racial trait.
sensitivity to sunlight is not exactly the same thing as a permanent visual impairment, but your point is well taken. a drow living in the above ground world would have some similar issues.
Thieves World series of books.
discuss
Have you ever read the Mistborn series?
Awesome series.
heh, yer sew see lee sum thymes! luvzit
Talking about book series, have you read Raymond Feist "Riftwar Saga" series. I tried to read Donaldson, but had to stop when it got to that scene when he raped that girl. I just thought to myself why would I want to read a book about someone I don't like and probably even hate?
I very strongly recommend you avoid A Clockwork Orange.
The Black Company and Brust might be tough as well if someone has issues with questionable morality from the protagonist.
Hi Matthew! I was wondering if you have an email I can contact you at?
hey Matt. Have you ever watched the Dead Gentlemen / Zombie Orpheus series "The Gamers". If so what did you think?
Wait I missed a live stream :_(
()_()
When you tell them the secret its no longer a secret, Matt.
I can't be a player in Dungeons & Dragons. I find it to frustrating. Way to limiting and forced when it comes to character creation and the ways I want to express and explore a character. Sure a great GM can with some bit of work change things around, but it still don't change the character progression and indeed things like the armor class, and the fact that it don't work like Basic Roleplaying and actually Absorbs Damage.
I don't have the same issues when being the GM. I find I'm there to entertain the players and have a great time using the system and changing it to for my players challenges and entertainment.
Spoony