If anyone is ever curious as to why atoms look like solar systems or galaxies like whatever, the simple answer is that they don't. The solar system model of atoms was thrown out long ago and it is know accepted that electron moves around in an irregular cloud shape. Galaxies tend to look black and white, and the images we see have had color added to help us parse what is going on, the color addition is the same they use for nueral scans because they only have so many colors. Just another segment of "The answer isn't nearly as cool as what you thought"
Sounds like confining yourself to the partial data theoretical model isn't as cool as the subjective interpretation for the purpose of providing meaningful context. Did you ever wonder how it is that your body is potentially symmetrical but actually not?
I actually think both are awe-inspiring in their own way, which is why I took time to look into it. I always assumed that the lack of symmetry was due to errors and environmental differences between sides
Asymmetry can be caused by something as simple as how your parents set you down to sleep as an infant. Keep sleeping on that one side and your head slopes toward that direction. As for the atom - galaxy thing goes, look in a microscope and you see a ball with little balls orbiting it. Look through a telescope and you see a ball with little balls orbiting it. They don't have to orbit the same, and not all solar systems, or galaxies, have the same orbit types. It disproves string theory, and that's all that matters. :)
It's a bit misleading to say that we "add color" to images of galaxies. It's an anthropocentric idea that the visible color spectrum is the only range of "color." Different types of matter emit/reflect light in different parts of the EM spectrum, so we use different filters to see what our naked eyes can't see. In order to show the part of a cloud that is only visible to an x-ray detector, we give it color as we layer it on top of the image that we get when we use the visible spectrum (and combine that with other wavelengths and so on and so forth). Similarly, you can take the visible spectrum and chop it up even more. I could image a galaxy in the visible spectrum by taking three separate images of it: once with a blue filter, once with a red filter, and once with a green filter. On their own, these images will look neither like their respective colors nor like the actual galaxy. They will each highlight different parts of the galaxy, parts that emit/reflect strongly in their respective wavelengths. Then, when i combine them all, I get a representation of reality.
“I know this: if life is illusion, then I am no less an illusion, and being thus, the illusion is real to me. I live, I burn with life, I love, I slay, and am content." -Conan of Cimmeria
Xanathar's just added summoning across the board cause the original book lacked it so much. Not sure they made it out of the intention to make magic scary to use... A lot of that though, I feel, is up to the DM to mess with. You could make a setting where every time you cast a spell, you roll an Arcana check (or religion check for divine casters). That way your measly lvl 1 summoning ritual has a chance of summoning some pit fiend or w/e... slows the game down a little bit tho.
Crawford said that the focus of the new spells in Xanathar's was new interesting options in combat and world building th-cam.com/video/QkU4hELM2Os/w-d-xo.html
Ive only recently started watching. But of all the episodes ive watched i have not ever wanted to sit down with you two and join in on the discussion more than i did on this episode.
I feel like I want to go through and listen to each assertion you guys make in this video and expound on it. That said, the earliest recorded point (of which I am aware) when someone said, "There's nothing original left to create/think/etc." Is the Hebrew King Solomon, c. 450-180 BCE; in the Book of Ecclesiastes, Chapter 1, Verses 9-11: "What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, “See, this is new”? It has been already in the ages before us. There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after. Though, much like you, if he is saying there's nothing new under the sun, he probably acknowledges that that thought itself is not new....so...you guys rock, and I enjoy your vids, that's all I'm saying. :)
Laughing at (and kind of enjoying) the comments about "Need what they smoked" or "What's wrong, they're so cynical and jaded?" Hey folks, it's all available and quite legal. Natural result of a classic liberal arts and critical thinking based education! Get your own today... Also thinking of Monty Python's Philosopher's Song. Class episode, gents.
16:00 - My mantra and advice to everyone. Jim gets it. The Wittgenstein and Rorty level of addressing the actual need (rather lack of need) made my day. If you ever need a player for a game full of philosophy, sign me up Jim Davis.
He always struck me as having a certain wisdom, beyond just DnD experience and knowledge. Clearly he's got a curious mind, the way he references real world history and religion in really specific ways. Seems like he's read all kinds of shit. Not to mention the way he talks about dealing with people at the table, which is basically the same diplomatic way to deal with people in the workplace and stuff too.
Ecclesiastes: "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.”
This is why I love the concept of "the Weave" that Ed Greenwood came up with and Julia Martin penned as "THE WEAVE". It's all based on the Lay Line concept where there are lines of force that permeate the planet. I suggest Ed's video on magic & the Weave & how it works in Forgotten Realms. Interesting video guys! Thanks.
Super glad I found this video; I'm thinking of running a campaign with an altered cosmology that keeps the idea of Mystra and the Weave. A recurring theme in fantasies is people rebelling against gods and killing them to escape their tyranny, especially within the last 30-40 years. I'm hoping to have my players slay Mystra at the end of the quest, then find out that without her to maintain the Weave the material world will be cut off from magic, which is necessary to maintain both life and the idea of a concrete reality. They then have to deal with the fact that they've doomed the world to slowly wither. This vid is giving me some good perspective preparing for that!
My group just started a Ravenloft campaign where I'm playing an Aasimar Paladin (Everything Wants to Kill Me!) so a deep discussion of religion/gods in D&D was actually timely, as my I'm having a hard time role-playing a character with such a deep seated connection to the gods. Thank you boys, your are awesome as usual.
I like the discussion around how it's really hard to accidentally summon something or accidentally fuck up magic or other shit. In my world there's a lot of magic you can't find in the PHB, but it's pretty much exclusive to bad guys. But in theory there are books written out there of "how to become a lich" and "how to summon a pit fiend." None of that stuff is in the PHB but its gotta be happening somehow right? I think it'd be interesting for there to be a source book around spells not available to the players for DM's to utilize for villains.
In a lot of stories, the process of becoming a lich or obtaining power from (or over) demons is an arduous, sometimes corrupting process that's different for anyone who uses it. Considering that a lot of the most powerful bad guys are immortal, capable of living for a super long time, or rich and powerful enough to have a very particular set of education and hobbies, it's entirely possible that a lot of the things that aren't in the PHB are simply unknowable, with unknowable parameters, and have to be self-taught to truly be understood. Or, since they have a tendency to corrupt (Liches and necromancers being evil by default, certain spells and spell-like abilities are restricted to certain creatures) they simply become inhabitted by living Vancian thoughts, and it would be a on the character themselves to be able to truly know that spell without going mad, getting possessed, being motivated to abuse it all the time because the spell has to be free, etc. and be unable to use it for good.
Look up the Wizard's Compendium for 2nd edition D&D. There's a buttload of spells, a lot of which only make sense for villains to use or PCs with a LOT of time on their hands.
+Kilivin Excellent resources, those. Once had one of my longtime players "create" a Force Mage wizard kit just by going through my Wizard's Compendiums and listing all the Force spells (by the way, Lance of Disruption is a powerful, powerful spell that is really dangerous to use among allies... and destructible objects. Fun campaign, though).
It does my heart good to have you bring up the Gnostics. I am a prof at a university who played dnd since the 80s and Studies the so called “Gnostics.” :)
I just have to say that I love your banter so much. I'm an American living in Japan and you guys are like my surrogate nerdy American friends. Thanks for making these videos!
I'm an experienced gamer, and an experienced DM, and you've given me something new - something that I've never thought of before. The players are the Gods, the characters are their actors, and that, as a GM, I am the base material. I might describe the world as they know it, but ultimately they shape it. I may be mighty, but without them, I am without purpose.
When you guys talk about "the refinement of magic" and how it would take years of tuning to make a dork like in the book, I just thought of an anime called Akashic records of a magical instructor. The anime goes into how a regular mage can cast a basic spell that they're taught, but a real master can change the way they cast the spell in order to change things like it's power, range, behavior, and even make a simple line spell turn a corner. It's really interesting!
this episode didn't teach me anything useful, at all, but i was certainly entertained and that's enough for me, both of you are national treasures and your banter is wonderful to listen to.
My favorite thing about you guys is your sparing yet punctuating use of "fuck." It's like this big, long, philosophical conversation punctuated with a dose of real life using "fuck" as the tool. The juxtaposition is amazing and it's through that unintentionally effortless speech that tells me you guys are the ones I should be listening to about this game.
It was a whole campaign! The last 3.x/PF game I ran. Everyone in the party played a unique race/class combo that embodied some idea or concept: The Gnome (Fey creatures, domesticity), The Werewolf (Predators, the Hunt), The Unicorn (Wild animals, Nobility of nature), Death (uh....death), The Master (Magic). The campaign world was mutable so we kept track of concepts the party introduced into the world (Ex: the gnome invented agriculture and cooking) and they traveled the land aiding the newly sentient beings of Creation. The big bad was a time traveling demoness who sought to return to the beginning of time to dominate the world.
In the campaign I'm running the cosmology is very similar to the one you described. The universe happened, then creatures, then they created the deities out of beliefs, superstition, etc.
16:52 - "That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which it may be said, "See, this is new"? It has already been in ancient times before us." - Ecclesiastes 1:9-10 [NKJV]
Dystopian Jim Davis dropping some mind-f*ck bombs. If no cheat codes are provided, know you are gathering currency in the guise of DnD fans throughout the world. Been following you guys since the beginning and I am entertained and enlightened weekly- keep up the great work.
For Jonathan Pruit: atoms don't actually look like solar systems as you say: that was before quantum field theory. The electron doesn't actually move around, instead, it's in a superposition, similar (but not exactly identical) to the Blink Dog from D&D Monster Manual. Also, we do know that the electron, as well as the other particles, don't actually have mass of their own, but instead they gain mass by interacting with the Higgs field, which in a certain sense is similar to the Weave of Mystra of Forgotten Realms.
This was really good. Definitely agree on the origins of magic Jim posited here. I'm running a campaign around the just-post emergence of magic and how it is shaping society right now. It's been really fun so far. :)
Me and my freind have a home brew for the gods. First there was chaos then there was this god who harnessed the chaos. This was used to make the worlds, the planes, everything. This power is still around and it is taken over by the ideas of gods. Sorcerers have a piece of this inside of them.
Jim Davis summoning his inner Lt Frank Drebin It's a topsy-turvy world, and maybe the problems of two people don't amount to a hill of beans. But this is our hill. And these are our beans!
Tomorrow at my 48th birthday party I'm going to release my mega chronicle that was 7 months in the making resplendent with the most original take on a Homebrew mythology for celestial beings Seven gods based after the seven Catholic virtues reskinned over the usual cleric Spheres Many and great have been you two gentlemen's submissions to this channel and throughout this games construction you too were guiding forces for many things I have not tried in d&d My first game in 5e Been playing since the white box Mr Pruitt, Mr Davis I thank you both sincerely for putting my chronicle on the course this video was among many to help shape it
I love that they let this episode just become a rambling philosophical discussion 😆 I was waiting for Pruit to say “so how does all of this affect how you run your D&D game?” and he didn’t, but that’s fine!
Dudes ... This might be the best video you've put out. I love all the meta/reality bending biz. And yes. It matters. Or we wouldn't be talking about it :)
I once played a tiny online fantasy RPG with monsters, spells, magic items, etc. Once the main story in that game concluded, a sort of prequel was released where people roamed a primeval landscape, using tools crafted from stone and simple elemental magic to survive. Since then I've always been fascinated by the prehistory of worlds like those in D&D. Did all these races start as stone-age hunter-gatherers, or, if they were created by the gods, did the gods just kind of show them how to use fire and metal? How was magic discovered, and how was it different from what it used now? Did all the different races and creatures show up on the scene at the same time? How were their relationships to each other prior the establishment of modern nations and religions?
Might now be my favorite Web DM episode. Combining my two favorite hobbies; fantasy and philosophy. Hilarious & thought provoking. Truth is found in Jesus, guys. I love y’alls faces in the Raphael painting by the way. Very creative.
On the whole thing about not being an original thought out there anymore you reminded me of The Immortal by J.L. Borges that stars by quoting Francis Bacon's Essays: "Salomon saith, There is no new thing upon the earth. So that as Plato had an imagination, that all knowledge was but remembrance; so Salomon giveth his sentence, that all novelty is but oblivion." Isn't it interesting how this is a quote nested into several ones?
In response to Pruitt's second point about the idea of reality being fractal, and that if we could zoom in enough our atoms might resolve into universes: The main reason physics presents as subverting that possibility is that the laws of physics operate fundamentally differently on the microscopic and subatomic scales as compared to the scale of galaxies. The inherently probabilistic and non-intuitive reality of the quantum scale proves in behavior to be measurably different in regards to the physical laws that govern their possibilities from the physical rules that apply to planets. In example, the orbit of our planet is a clearly traceable and predictable thing. The "orbit" of an electron is a non-linear set of probabilities of location inhabited by an effectively volume-less object. This particular approach (which plenty of people would disagree with) doesn't rule out the possibility of the idea of nested realities, but it means that the realities in question would exist and function in a way so fundamentally different from one another that it would be unrecognizable as such, or at the very least the recognizable realities would all behave by strange rules. The idea at that point reminds me more of a flatland approach to different realities.
Thanks for watching! Want more Web DM in your life? Get our podcast here: www.patreon.com/webdm
Guys, when I watch your show about DnD, I'm trying to RELAX!!
Relax does not equal existential crisis. OML!!
"We're not even high right now." "Yeah, not yet"
Outtake at the start, intro at the end. Time is a flat circle
Neverfate Just like Earth.
Benjamin Rogers *NO.*
Supreme Grand Master Azrael Typical spherecuck.
Benjamin Rogers Troll level: journeyman.
@Selarom Ogeid How much feet wide?
I love how this wasn't really a DnD video, it was just Philosophy video with two guys that play DnD.
15:38 As a chemistry student: They actually don't the atomar planetary model is kinda outdated.
Jim I have a philosophy and theology degree I only use in DnD. Let's get a beer 😂
Cheers. I'd drink and listen to that.
What do you use that degree for? Making lattes for Priests?
cerickNY its called training to become a deacon. To be a priest, you need to actually study philosophy.
kwazooplayingguardsman careful, man. You are going to alienate the people you are trying to win to your side.
Yep. Just Eric Oh, I didn't know I was antagonizing someone, pardon then.
Somebody got Jim Davis stoned? most interesting Web DM episode ive seen.
If anyone is ever curious as to why atoms look like solar systems or galaxies like whatever, the simple answer is that they don't. The solar system model of atoms was thrown out long ago and it is know accepted that electron moves around in an irregular cloud shape. Galaxies tend to look black and white, and the images we see have had color added to help us parse what is going on, the color addition is the same they use for nueral scans because they only have so many colors.
Just another segment of "The answer isn't nearly as cool as what you thought"
I thank you for your input. I'm going to be honest though, that's really disappointing.
Sounds like confining yourself to the partial data theoretical model isn't as cool as the subjective interpretation for the purpose of providing meaningful context.
Did you ever wonder how it is that your body is potentially symmetrical but actually not?
I actually think both are awe-inspiring in their own way, which is why I took time to look into it.
I always assumed that the lack of symmetry was due to errors and environmental differences between sides
Asymmetry can be caused by something as simple as how your parents set you down to sleep as an infant. Keep sleeping on that one side and your head slopes toward that direction.
As for the atom - galaxy thing goes, look in a microscope and you see a ball with little balls orbiting it. Look through a telescope and you see a ball with little balls orbiting it. They don't have to orbit the same, and not all solar systems, or galaxies, have the same orbit types. It disproves string theory, and that's all that matters. :)
It's a bit misleading to say that we "add color" to images of galaxies. It's an anthropocentric idea that the visible color spectrum is the only range of "color." Different types of matter emit/reflect light in different parts of the EM spectrum, so we use different filters to see what our naked eyes can't see. In order to show the part of a cloud that is only visible to an x-ray detector, we give it color as we layer it on top of the image that we get when we use the visible spectrum (and combine that with other wavelengths and so on and so forth). Similarly, you can take the visible spectrum and chop it up even more. I could image a galaxy in the visible spectrum by taking three separate images of it: once with a blue filter, once with a red filter, and once with a green filter. On their own, these images will look neither like their respective colors nor like the actual galaxy. They will each highlight different parts of the galaxy, parts that emit/reflect strongly in their respective wavelengths. Then, when i combine them all, I get a representation of reality.
That intro was beautiful.
I'm not totally uncertain if I'm just be an NPC in a real douche-hog's campaign setting.
Ok then, Poland
Dungeon Dad there are days when I feel like the straight man in a farce.
"Everything has already been said, and we are more than 7,000 years of human thought too late"
-Jean de la Bruyere, French moralist, 1675
“I know this: if life is illusion, then I am no less an illusion, and being thus, the illusion is real to me. I live, I burn with life, I love, I slay, and am content."
-Conan of Cimmeria
Is that castle wall a DM screen?
Could y'all do a show on DM screens?
Wild Magic sorcerer can have some strange magic consequences. Also Xanathar's guide to everything added demon summoning as a spell.
Xanathar's just added summoning across the board cause the original book lacked it so much. Not sure they made it out of the intention to make magic scary to use... A lot of that though, I feel, is up to the DM to mess with. You could make a setting where every time you cast a spell, you roll an Arcana check (or religion check for divine casters). That way your measly lvl 1 summoning ritual has a chance of summoning some pit fiend or w/e... slows the game down a little bit tho.
Crawford said that the focus of the new spells in Xanathar's was new interesting options in combat and world building th-cam.com/video/QkU4hELM2Os/w-d-xo.html
Also in that Old Black Magic unearthed arcana.
Zoom out to reveal Jim films the show in his boxers. 😆
those are shorts friend
boxers are just extremely casual shorts.
When they are lucky he wears *something* sown there.
I've watched a lot of Web DM but goddamn I've never enjoyed Jim Davis' thoughts and personality more.
All love to Mr. Pruitt, too.
Just wanna say thanks. You provide me with tons of inspiration for my campaign and I've watched all of your videos. Happy holidays!
Thanks! Glad to inspire!
Ive only recently started watching. But of all the episodes ive watched i have not ever wanted to sit down with you two and join in on the discussion more than i did on this episode.
You guys knocked it out of the park on this one. Easily my favourite episode to date.
0:48 look at Jim's hand resting by his knee as the camera zooms out. Then read more:
He got me too, the bastard.
"Its a very shitty simulation" - 2017 in a nutshell lol
the kick is its not just 2017, its all the time
Coming from 2020 I can say that this comments have not aged poorly
@@ravennix1234 Coming from 2021 I agree
Oh, that thumbnail is too funny. Love it.
13:41" I wouldn't want to live in forgotten realms ,dragon's, demons.... " you forgot to mention the murder hobo's
BEST episode in a effing while. Not saying that your other vids are not good, it is just that this one was superb.
+Nethird we agree!!
I hadn't heard of WebMD before last week. Your name makes so much more sense now.
Jim Davis you are my hero
I feel like I want to go through and listen to each assertion you guys make in this video and expound on it. That said, the earliest recorded point (of which I am aware) when someone said, "There's nothing original left to create/think/etc." Is the Hebrew King Solomon, c. 450-180 BCE; in the Book of Ecclesiastes, Chapter 1, Verses 9-11:
"What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done,
and there is nothing new under the sun.
Is there a thing of which it is said,
“See, this is new”?
It has been already
in the ages before us.
There is no remembrance of former things,
nor will there be any remembrance
of later things yet to be
among those who come after.
Though, much like you, if he is saying there's nothing new under the sun, he probably acknowledges that that thought itself is not new....so...you guys rock, and I enjoy your vids, that's all I'm saying. :)
Joshua Kammert, well said. I was about to make the same observation.
WebDM deserves more subs, considering the sub count of some of the other big D&D channels.
Laughing at (and kind of enjoying) the comments about "Need what they smoked" or "What's wrong, they're so cynical and jaded?" Hey folks, it's all available and quite legal. Natural result of a classic liberal arts and critical thinking based education! Get your own today...
Also thinking of Monty Python's Philosopher's Song. Class episode, gents.
What a brilliant and beautiful episode of WebDM, thank you!
I coudl hear you guys go on for waaaay longer! Thanks for the hard work guys!!
16:00 - My mantra and advice to everyone. Jim gets it. The Wittgenstein and Rorty level of addressing the actual need (rather lack of need) made my day. If you ever need a player for a game full of philosophy, sign me up Jim Davis.
I somehow respect Jim Davis even more now.
Thank you!
Thank you guys for the show, and I just enjoy the way you think.
He always struck me as having a certain wisdom, beyond just DnD experience and knowledge. Clearly he's got a curious mind, the way he references real world history and religion in really specific ways. Seems like he's read all kinds of shit. Not to mention the way he talks about dealing with people at the table, which is basically the same diplomatic way to deal with people in the workplace and stuff too.
Wisdom is dungeon masters main stat
Jim is hard boiled. Good stuff. Thankfully there are hard boiled people runnin' around.
I've been lagging on catching up on your videos, but man what an awesome topic to come back to.
I kinda love how fatalistic and grizzled and world-weary Jim Davis is in this one XD
I could seriously listen to you two wax philosophical for several videos. This is my favorite episode.😁
Ah man, I could listen to you guys talk about this all day. This was great, thanks.
Ecclesiastes: "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.”
I highly recommend the book "NPC's by Drew Hayes. Deals heavily with these types of issues, and is also hilarious.
This was the best video you guys have done.
This is why I love the concept of "the Weave" that Ed Greenwood came up with and Julia Martin penned as "THE WEAVE". It's all based on the Lay Line concept where there are lines of force that permeate the planet. I suggest Ed's video on magic & the Weave & how it works in Forgotten Realms. Interesting video guys! Thanks.
Super glad I found this video; I'm thinking of running a campaign with an altered cosmology that keeps the idea of Mystra and the Weave. A recurring theme in fantasies is people rebelling against gods and killing them to escape their tyranny, especially within the last 30-40 years. I'm hoping to have my players slay Mystra at the end of the quest, then find out that without her to maintain the Weave the material world will be cut off from magic, which is necessary to maintain both life and the idea of a concrete reality. They then have to deal with the fact that they've doomed the world to slowly wither. This vid is giving me some good perspective preparing for that!
Best episode ever! I'm gonna dm my first game based on this.
I always look forward to these videos coming out every Wednesday! Can you guys do a video on types of magic? Also Psionic damage as well.
My group just started a Ravenloft campaign where I'm playing an Aasimar Paladin (Everything Wants to Kill Me!) so a deep discussion of religion/gods in D&D was actually timely, as my I'm having a hard time role-playing a character with such a deep seated connection to the gods. Thank you boys, your are awesome as usual.
I like the discussion around how it's really hard to accidentally summon something or accidentally fuck up magic or other shit. In my world there's a lot of magic you can't find in the PHB, but it's pretty much exclusive to bad guys. But in theory there are books written out there of "how to become a lich" and "how to summon a pit fiend." None of that stuff is in the PHB but its gotta be happening somehow right? I think it'd be interesting for there to be a source book around spells not available to the players for DM's to utilize for villains.
Yeah, I feel the same way. As is, there's no way for a novice mage to mess up a summoning spell or for something to go HORRIBLY WRONG
In a lot of stories, the process of becoming a lich or obtaining power from (or over) demons is an arduous, sometimes corrupting process that's different for anyone who uses it. Considering that a lot of the most powerful bad guys are immortal, capable of living for a super long time, or rich and powerful enough to have a very particular set of education and hobbies, it's entirely possible that a lot of the things that aren't in the PHB are simply unknowable, with unknowable parameters, and have to be self-taught to truly be understood. Or, since they have a tendency to corrupt (Liches and necromancers being evil by default, certain spells and spell-like abilities are restricted to certain creatures) they simply become inhabitted by living Vancian thoughts, and it would be a on the character themselves to be able to truly know that spell without going mad, getting possessed, being motivated to abuse it all the time because the spell has to be free, etc. and be unable to use it for good.
Look up the Wizard's Compendium for 2nd edition D&D. There's a buttload of spells, a lot of which only make sense for villains to use or PCs with a LOT of time on their hands.
+Kilivin
Excellent resources, those. Once had one of my longtime players "create" a Force Mage wizard kit just by going through my Wizard's Compendiums and listing all the Force spells (by the way, Lance of Disruption is a powerful, powerful spell that is really dangerous to use among allies... and destructible objects. Fun campaign, though).
It'd be interesting to get a sourcebook for evil campaigns in general.
It does my heart good to have you bring up the Gnostics. I am a prof at a university who played dnd since the 80s and Studies the so called “Gnostics.” :)
Arguably one of my favourite episodes. Thanks guys!
Instantly became my favorite episode of your channel.
This is my favorite Web dM episode yet. I am building a setting, and this is great food for thought.
Right from the thumbnail I knew this was gonna be good
Fantastic show it was a shorter one but the quality of your conversation and topic was superb
I'd like to request a one-off episode comparing various RPGs like DnD, GURPS, Pathfinder, Call of Cthulhu, Vampire: Mascarade, Hunter, etc. . .
I just have to say that I love your banter so much. I'm an American living in Japan and you guys are like my surrogate nerdy American friends. Thanks for making these videos!
I'm an experienced gamer, and an experienced DM, and you've given me something new - something that I've never thought of before. The players are the Gods, the characters are their actors, and that, as a GM, I am the base material. I might describe the world as they know it, but ultimately they shape it. I may be mighty, but without them, I am without purpose.
Simulation is what sold me on DnD when I was first introduced to AD&D back in 1978.
When you guys talk about "the refinement of magic" and how it would take years of tuning to make a dork like in the book, I just thought of an anime called Akashic records of a magical instructor. The anime goes into how a regular mage can cast a basic spell that they're taught, but a real master can change the way they cast the spell in order to change things like it's power, range, behavior, and even make a simple line spell turn a corner. It's really interesting!
Im really glad they mentioned the gnostic approach to the divine
More videos like this! This was packed full of great ideas! Now I can't stop thinking....
That was some shit to think about at 8:20 in the morning on a Sunday. Love it.
this episode didn't teach me anything useful, at all, but i was certainly entertained and that's enough for me, both of you are national treasures and your banter is wonderful to listen to.
My favorite thing about you guys is your sparing yet punctuating use of "fuck." It's like this big, long, philosophical conversation punctuated with a dose of real life using "fuck" as the tool. The juxtaposition is amazing and it's through that unintentionally effortless speech that tells me you guys are the ones I should be listening to about this game.
Thoroughly satisfying chat today.
What a couple of madlads. Excellent work.
Wow! Roy and the Carpet Store!
I just watched a clip of it. Awesome!
I'd love to hear more about this one-shot at the point of creation. That sounds super interesting.
It was a whole campaign! The last 3.x/PF game I ran. Everyone in the party played a unique race/class combo that embodied some idea or concept: The Gnome (Fey creatures, domesticity), The Werewolf (Predators, the Hunt), The Unicorn (Wild animals, Nobility of nature), Death (uh....death), The Master (Magic). The campaign world was mutable so we kept track of concepts the party introduced into the world (Ex: the gnome invented agriculture and cooking) and they traveled the land aiding the newly sentient beings of Creation. The big bad was a time traveling demoness who sought to return to the beginning of time to dominate the world.
In the campaign I'm running the cosmology is very similar to the one you described. The universe happened, then creatures, then they created the deities out of beliefs, superstition, etc.
16:52 - "That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which it may be said, "See, this is new"? It has already been in ancient times before us." - Ecclesiastes 1:9-10 [NKJV]
I would watch a whole video of Jim and Pruitt hotboxing the studio and talking philosophy.
Dystopian Jim Davis dropping some mind-f*ck bombs.
If no cheat codes are provided, know you are gathering currency in the guise of DnD fans throughout the world. Been following you guys since the beginning and I am entertained and enlightened weekly- keep up the great work.
That was insanely great. Jim, I’m with you 100%.
As much as I love hearing these two talking about D&D, I'd love a podcast where they just talk about philosophy
In the magic talk I think elemental magic was one of the first. Rain for the crops, heat to keep warm etc etc, then comes the pyromancer
Diggsjp01 Druidic Magics fall into that category, probably.
For Jonathan Pruit: atoms don't actually look like solar systems as you say: that was before quantum field theory. The electron doesn't actually move around, instead, it's in a superposition, similar (but not exactly identical) to the Blink Dog from D&D Monster Manual. Also, we do know that the electron, as well as the other particles, don't actually have mass of their own, but instead they gain mass by interacting with the Higgs field, which in a certain sense is similar to the Weave of Mystra of Forgotten Realms.
again, i have flashbacks to X-Files season 6, episode 21 Field Trip
and also some memories of my philosophy classes back in the day
This was really good. Definitely agree on the origins of magic Jim posited here. I'm running a campaign around the just-post emergence of magic and how it is shaping society right now. It's been really fun so far. :)
Yeah Yeah! New Web DM and holy jeez. This is deeper than any of my college classes.
Me and my freind have a home brew for the gods. First there was chaos then there was this god who harnessed the chaos. This was used to make the worlds, the planes, everything. This power is still around and it is taken over by the ideas of gods. Sorcerers have a piece of this inside of them.
I love how frustrated Jim seems throughout this own.
Gold...pure gold
Dnd is a very gnostic game. Great episode guys!
Yes they were filming. Great intro!
*Insert SoCrates Bill and Ted refrence here*
whoa
When a PC dies can I be the first to yell "You killed Ted you medieval dickweed!" ?
Robert Chiccarine Like sand through the hour glass, so are the days of our lives.
Jim Davis summoning his inner Lt Frank Drebin
It's a topsy-turvy world, and maybe the problems of two people don't amount to a hill of beans. But this is our hill. And these are our beans!
I miss these so much
Man, these guys are great.
'And that's how you get your mind blown' You guys are fucking great.
Tomorrow at my 48th birthday party I'm going to release my mega chronicle that was 7 months in the making resplendent with the most original take on a Homebrew mythology for celestial beings
Seven gods based after the seven Catholic virtues reskinned over the usual cleric Spheres
Many and great have been you two gentlemen's submissions to this channel and throughout this games construction you too were guiding forces for many things I have not tried in d&d
My first game in 5e
Been playing since the white box
Mr Pruitt, Mr Davis I thank you both sincerely for putting my chronicle on the course this video was among many to help shape it
Happy birthday!!!! Thank you for the kind words
You weird weird boys
I love that they let this episode just become a rambling philosophical discussion 😆 I was waiting for Pruit to say “so how does all of this affect how you run your D&D game?” and he didn’t, but that’s fine!
I’m impressed with Jim’s knowledge of Philosophy. You should all check out some Descartes!
You guys are awesome, btw I grew up a BIG run-DMC fan so I love the Run DnD shirt in other videos
Dudes ... This might be the best video you've put out. I love all the meta/reality bending biz.
And yes. It matters. Or we wouldn't be talking about it :)
I once played a tiny online fantasy RPG with monsters, spells, magic items, etc. Once the main story in that game concluded, a sort of prequel was released where people roamed a primeval landscape, using tools crafted from stone and simple elemental magic to survive.
Since then I've always been fascinated by the prehistory of worlds like those in D&D. Did all these races start as stone-age hunter-gatherers, or, if they were created by the gods, did the gods just kind of show them how to use fire and metal? How was magic discovered, and how was it different from what it used now? Did all the different races and creatures show up on the scene at the same time? How were their relationships to each other prior the establishment of modern nations and religions?
Might now be my favorite Web DM episode. Combining my two favorite hobbies; fantasy and philosophy. Hilarious & thought provoking.
Truth is found in Jesus, guys.
I love y’alls faces in the Raphael painting by the way. Very creative.
Everything about this video was awesome.
i love the "are we filming now?" moments of the beginings
On the whole thing about not being an original thought out there anymore you reminded me of The Immortal by J.L. Borges that stars by quoting Francis Bacon's Essays:
"Salomon saith, There is no new thing upon the earth. So that as Plato had an imagination, that all knowledge was but remembrance; so Salomon giveth his sentence, that all novelty is but oblivion."
Isn't it interesting how this is a quote nested into several ones?
Hahaha this intro was gold! "Are you filming now"
In response to Pruitt's second point about the idea of reality being fractal, and that if we could zoom in enough our atoms might resolve into universes:
The main reason physics presents as subverting that possibility is that the laws of physics operate fundamentally differently on the microscopic and subatomic scales as compared to the scale of galaxies.
The inherently probabilistic and non-intuitive reality of the quantum scale proves in behavior to be measurably different in regards to the physical laws that govern their possibilities from the physical rules that apply to planets.
In example, the orbit of our planet is a clearly traceable and predictable thing. The "orbit" of an electron is a non-linear set of probabilities of location inhabited by an effectively volume-less object.
This particular approach (which plenty of people would disagree with) doesn't rule out the possibility of the idea of nested realities, but it means that the realities in question would exist and function in a way so fundamentally different from one another that it would be unrecognizable as such, or at the very least the recognizable realities would all behave by strange rules. The idea at that point reminds me more of a flatland approach to different realities.
I just have to say that you guys have some of the best thumbnail pics for your videos lol
Thank you!! Our Producer Trav does great work!
Loved this. Thanks. More DnD philosophy please