45 minute episodes? No thanks. I need several hours; at the end, you're drenched in sweat, holding your ears, rocking back and forth mumbling about the pits. Don't short change me!
@@ZeldaDPDePietro I was mostly commenting on that alignment receiving complaints due to problem players. I also don't think the system is dumb, it's a general idea of how your character behaves if you don't have a straight answer and you can change alignments depending on your actions during the campaign. also "playing with everyone" depends on your group. for some groups, this IS how you play. that's why session 0's are a must and people still do it way too little. if you don't communicate beforehand goody 2 shoes are just as off beat to the evil characters as the other way around, so talk about it. Even in a full hero campaign you can still utilize evil PCs they just can't be chaotic stupid. (except some technicalities like "so dumb he ends up doing good with his 'evil'")
@@sqfzerzefsdf The aligment system has two things in mind 1. Spells and Powers that requiere you to be of an aligment "Smite Evil" for example 2. The Cosmos of DND with Chaos gods, Lawful Gods, etc Using it as a 'personality' or 'morality' system dosen't work, that's why is kinda dumb. You can grab a character or an action and have 500 essays of arguments on wich alignment they are. Robin hood is the example character for Chaotic Good but he HAS a moral law system and follows it, you could argue "Lawful" is about the law of the land but it dosen't make sense when you can have Cities or Races be "Chaotic" in alignment, if the law of the land is "Killing good" then are they Chaotic or Lawful??? "Evil" in 3rd edition dosen't even mean "Someone who does evil acts" it means someone who comes from an evil plane (Like a devil or demon)
I appreciate your enthusiasm and candid approach to gaming from both sides of the screen. As a player and (forever) DM since 1e, it's so cool to see newer generations taking up the mantle of gaming and having such a passion for the game. Though I don't agree with *everything* you say, you do bring up some very valid points, and you've given this old wolf a few good slants and more than a few good points to ponder. Please keep calling out those things that many others are too timid to tackle. It's crystal that you love D&D (5e is definitely boss) and gaming in general, so I'm a fan. Thank you!
Personally, I think the Stun condition is one of the harshest ones to afflict on a character. I say this because the Stun condition has no counterplay. The turn(s)... just gone. I do think it has it's place in the game, but the cause should have an equal amount of weight as the effect. So more than one saving throw, or it happening after a player makes a risky / bad decision. That kinda thing. I also think that applies to the player's as well. As much as I love Monk; something like Stunning strike can be pretty overwhelming. The solution there is a bit different, and I think would work both ways; make the "Stun" condition harder and harder to do repeatedly in a certain time frame. It might be counter intuitive to real life combat; getting knocked so hard you can't move IRL is gonna hurt more and more, but in D&D it'd give both sides the knowledge that this powerful effect will only work for so long. It'd help keep things tense. Or not idk thats just my opinion.
There are several skills, feats and items that can end a stun. By your logic everything that takes away player agency is bad and would rob the game of half its appeal.
@@Glaswalker1001 Many players look forward to combat because they are almost guaranteed agency within it. I want my players to feel good about combat, not sit there and watch everyone else feel good about combat. Sorry, I don't like stealing away a player's turn or giving them items specifically so that I can't steal away their turn and that do little else. I want my players to focus on trying to build upon their choice of classes and subclasses and not have to worry about how unless they take certain skills from specific classes, a random enemy can throw their whole turn out with a stun.
This is very similar to my middle-ground take as well. I actually think Darkest Dungeon did it correctly. Players can be stunned, BUT it's much harder for enemies to stun players than vice versa. Also, all stuns expire the next round no matter what, and once you are stunned you get stun resistance for a round to prevent stun lock. Good system in that regard. And I don't think it's "unrealistic" either; the idea of a 'stun' is that you are dazed from getting hit harder than you were expecting to be. If you get hit again, well you're expecting it this time!
DM'd an XP based game where about 50% party were XP grinders who decided they wanted to turn on their allies "for the XP". I was disencouraged by XP to say the least but managed to convince them not to kill their allies. Won't be using XP again especially considering that after every single combat I'm met with barage of questions about when their leveling up... "yes, technically killing this group of harmless farmers would give you more XP- but... too late they killed them all"
You forgot the classic tool for this. Negative XP for civilians or innocent farmers. Its not a challenge to kill peasants, so it should always be 0 XP or just negative if you want to punish this behavior. Unless if your players are going for a villain campaign tho, from what it seems evil campaigns are easy to level early on, but later you cant just kill civilians for XP. Plus consequences from your actions
For what's effectively a rant podcast, that was such an unexpectedly compassionate and emotionally intelligent response concerning the player who takes a long time for their turns. Thanks for the great advice and perspective.
I played in a game recently and killed another player’s character. Basically the DM and the player had this character arc in mind for this crazy tabaxi character that the player created. But the character literally acted opposite the party and constantly made us go to save him (which was totally uncharacteristic for our characters) because the player is our friend and we want him to have fun. Anyways, there have been several combats where the DM says the tabaxi has a vision or whatever and he just attacks us and we have to subdue him. Another detail is that my character made a deal with a benefactor to get the story moving along. Basically we all had to give sensitive info to this NPC to get him to trust us and use as blackmail so we don’t betray him. My PC is on a mission to save his brother, and left his daughter and pregnant wife home without him so he can rid a curse on himself and his brother. I missed a session and the tabaxi betrayed this NPC, so my character’s family was screwed now because of it. In the last session we played, it was a really challenging combat the entire party was down except for my PC because he is a gloomstalker and it was dark. So I’m at full hp while the rest of the party is downed. It’s just me, our cleric at 13 hp, and the tabaxi at 2 hp. The boss tells the tabaxi to listen to him. DM didn’t make him roll, the player freely chose to cast sleep on our cleric. I, a 5th level ranger, saw that we were absolutely f*cked because of that casting of sleep. So I shot the tabaxi twice with my bow, in hopes that he would die on his death save. He did. Anyways, we make it out of that fight barely, and the nearly defeated boss npc surrenders and says, “don’t kill me or your tabaxi friend stays dead. I can bring him back.” I told the DM, “I knock two arrows and shoot him in the face.” The tabaxi player left the call like 40 minutes prior because his character was dead. But after the session, the entire party was complaining about all the stuff the tabaxi did that was just screwing with us and our plans. Our DM said he had no idea we all didn’t enjoy that. As if yes we love derailing everything for a character that just fights against us in combat when we are losing. But it was because we just didn’t want to tell our friend no and expected the DM to do so. It never happened, so I took it into my own hands. The next day the player had the audacity to ask me why I did that, as if he didn’t do stuff to literally thwart us or derail the entire game. So I told him, logically it’s what my character would do, since he was simply doing what his character would do as well. My character sees this person as a consistent threat to him, his family, and his other allies. Because no change has happened and the character has not developed or learned at all over the course of 20 sessions, he had to go.
As a DM, I personally don't hate the blinded, stunned, poisoned conditions, etc, but I like to use them on the person it affects the least or has the highest save first to give my players that sense of danger and urgency and prioritizing who needs to avoid what. Using a mind control condition on a character that saves means when they're able to identify that's what he was doing, they know to NOT let that happen to the Barbarian.
"Make things up as they go" in regards to mental-gymnastics on why xp is better than milestones (to the point that xp based leveling becomes milestone leveling, with a funny number to ogle at)
To be devils advocate, people like number go up, if DM can make it more fun with number go up (for some definition of "more fun" across the entire group, DM included), then let number go up. Is it comedic irony if it ends up similar in practice to milestone? Yeah. Is it a problem? I don't see it.
hi zach!! i think every video you make is literally peak humor and im eating up these podcasts. please dont shorten them bro im begging you to keep these episodes an hour long‼️ i DM’d over the summer for my friends and tried to prep and homebrew an entire world with deep lore in 2 months while doing an internship, and it was genuinely so stressful to manage that i instantly got burnt out of DMing by the time summer was over. but your videos have genuinely inspired me to start thinking about my world more, and maybe even try to DM again alongside my classes. anyways thanks again for the great content, it keeps me sane while i wait to play again as my beautiful baby boy Norbert every thursday night with my friends.
on the topic of the dude who takes a bazillion years for his turns, I'm a big min maxer as a player, so I (for the most part) know all my player's builds that I gm for, so when they're starting their turn or doing stuff, I'll correct them or ask them if they forewent some extra bit to their character if they meant to do so, or just break down a turn for them if their options are limited like "your best bet is either flank, punch twice, do this, or use this magic item and flee" or something to that effect. It can be a bit overwhelming if you're juggling a particularly taxing encounter or planning stuff behind the scenes with someone in dms/texts, but basically how I mitigate the slow player is just break it down for em, then once they pick a course of action remind em "hey, prof at this lvl is X, and your sneak attack die at this lvl is Xd6, and don't forget your dex mod to your main hand strike. ok, and did you want to use your bonus action for anything? you still have a second attack, where's that going. yeah, you can disengage as a bonus action with your cunning action, go for it." shit like that. since I already know most of their playstyles / builds, it's suuuper easy for me to just fill in the blanks if they're not playing like they normally do or after a game look up their class and min max the best strategies for them so next sesh i can walk them through even better damage output or statistically better order of operations, etc etc
Interrogation scenes (more like torture scenes) I just summarize now. The last time we did an RP interrogation session was in a D&D / boardgame cafe with a decent amount of people present. The party had captured a bugbear to interrogate on the whereabouts / identity of his boss. It quickly spiraled into mutilating his privates. I don't even know if bugbears have privates and I don't want to know. The bugbear broke free, combat ensued and they still insisted on targetting his crown jewels. Not coming up with anything better on the spot I had them roll with disadvantage. It was a mess. We're not going back to that cafe any time soon.
I'm the stunned essay author! Loved the reaction, Zach. Awesome video as usual, sorry my comment was so long. The TL:DR is: "Crowd controlling players isn't that bad, the 'Can't even play the game!' comment basically sums up the overreaction. You're playing the game, you just can't take your turn right now". Keep the rants unhinged, we might disagree here, but I also ain't letting anyone acid splash my locks!
Meh, I've been a victim of a stun effect many times. I could have stayed home and nothing would have changed. 3 hours of my life washed down the drain. It wasn't fun or interesting. There was no counterplay. I didn't make any choices, take any actions, or do anything except roll a die that didn't matter because nothing I rolled would have broken me out of a DC22 Stun effect with a +1 to the save. This has been my experience with stun every single time in the last 30 years I've been playing D&D. It's NEVER fun. Stun is just telling your players, "Yeah, F- you. You can't do anything for an hour or two."
In regards 49:00 where you try to make a metaphor for how to describe DnD, TTRPGs, and other systems to people completely out of the loop, the way I’ve found it best to describe TTRPGs, DnD, other systems, and how they all relate is that “Tabletop RPGs” is like, a video game genre, or a book genre. There’s a few overarching staple bits and pieces almost every system/genre shares. For example, in almost every RTS, you’re typically in a birds-eye view, or at the very least a third-person view where you control and order around multiple units in real time and typically involves combat (whether PvP or PvE) Or how almost every mystery novel there’s often a description of the core “mystery” early on into the series, but it typically doesn’t reveal the answer of the mystery so you’re also interested in seeing what the truth is. The story follows the main characters as they piece together clues, and then typically ends with the characters piecing it all together. TTRPGs are fundamentally all similar to some degree. Like a video game genre, book genre; etc, they all share a few core bits and pieces. Almost every TTRPG involves multiple players, each player typically has a “character sheet/unit sheet/player sheet” that lists out what a character can do, it usually involved rolling dice in order to determine the outcomes of actions. But, like games within a video game genre, or some books within the mystery genre, each tabletop RPG system has its own nuances. DnD mostly uses D20’s, GURPS uses D6’s Thus, DnD is an individual series within an entire “tabletop RPG genre.” If you want to take the metaphor further in regards to relating AD&D, 2E, 3.5E, 5E, it’s like novels in a specific series, or video games in a particular franchise. Thus, DnD, Pathfinder, GURPS are all different “series/franches”, while AD&D, 2E, 3.5E, 5E are individual “games/books” within the series. Which is all still apart of the tabletop RPG “genre.”
I DM'd ONE encounter that had a monk and a blood hunter with hold person. Our barbarian got stunned by the monk for almost the whole fight and our fighter almost got killed instantly after failing the hold person save. I have never ran anything that could paralyze/stun again. I'm okay if the party runs stun mechanics but I, myself, will refrain from using it against the party for the time being.
The main problem with stun is that it can last for one minute. The way I run it is that if one of my players gets stunned, it will only be for the one turn, and then it fades. The player can make the Saving Throw again on their turn, and it counts as their action, so if they pass, they still get their bonus action and movement. If they fail, their turn is skipped, but the condition immediately ends, so they have access to reactions after their turn. I also limit stunning enemies in my game, and my main bbegs don't have access to stun. I'd rather highlight something else to make them difficult in combat. Or the party can steamroll them, as long as their having fun, that's all that matters.
I simultaneously want these episodes to be linger and feel like I've been watching for 6 years. For clarification: I love these, I'll be loyally watching until episode 250.
My next campaign I will have an NPC character that bursts into the room a la Kool-aid man named Mr Bold every time they take too much time planning or shopping. 😅
Holy shit, I thought I was the only one who cared about the Arby's on Hollywood closing. I remember going there like a month ago for some of those seasoned fries and was crying on the inside.
Sending this for the goon platoon snack fund. Please keep doing these man. Usually im not a big fan of podcasts at all but i cant stop watching these keep it up man!
That sentiment of "I don't wanna play in your game, and I'm sure there are people say the same about mine" is one I've really had to internalise. I really love filler, I think downtime and smaller character moments are what make the epic moments matter for me, so I probably wouldn't want to play in your game, but you'd probably hate playing in mine and I think that's the beautiful thing about TTRPGs and this wonderful hobbies.
Man, the whole topic of Stun just brings back memories of a campaign that wrapped up earlier this year, final combat of the campaign and my character got stunned on turn 1 by a (as mentioned in the previous episode) Mind Flayer, queue to a 1.5 hour combat where I didn't make the saving throw until round 4 or 5 I think? I definitely thought the mind flayers were super smart and tactical enemies because I *checks notes* couldn't roll high. Dreadful status effect, literally don't use it against the players I DM for.
My very first session ever, my first character ever, a very impatient monk with a half a sentence of backstory (the concept was a Harley Quinn/Jinx-esc neurodivergent charecter that i didn't have that much time to delve into deeper before the first session i joined). There I instantly covered myself with the poorest excuse of "It's what my character would do" after engaging a group of enemies and causing a TPK... honestly the most humbling experience for me that lead me to actually sit down and turn a few marbles in my head before jumping straight into wild spontaneous ideas. So i guess having that moment once or twice and being heavily punished for it might not be the worst thing ever. On a totally unrelated side note I would love to hear your take on Counterspell since the new changes seem to gut the spell down to a bone and a friend of mine is glad about it and thinks it's a deserved balance, while I on the other hand disaggree and believe it to be too much and maybe not even healthy for the game itself Looking forward for the next episode and all your short content that you dish out so impeccably. Hopefully the heat doesn't desolve you by then :D
Most of the misery in our lives is made up of things found on a schedule. Your content just dropping randomly on any old day, good or bad, can be a real refresher.
Re: the Stun Condition. Even in Monopoly (a game that gets as much hate as it deserves), you can still buy, sell & collect rent off of your properties while in jail. If a condition in a TTRPG is LESS FUN than being in JAIL IN MONOPOLY (to say nothing of how long each condition lasts), something has gone disastrously wrong.
Here's the thing about stun and things similar to stun. Your players have might have the tools to end the condition. If you're a DM who is using it, and your players have that option: fair game. And thats smart, because you're paying attention to what your players can do and giving them the chance to utilize it. And then they can't get mad at you, because they had the option to prevent/stop it, and they didn't, so its entirely their fault for eating crayons.
Honest question: What are tools to end the Stunned condition? On the fly I can think of Cleansing Touch from 14th lvl Paladin or Way of Mercy Monk at lvl 6. But besides that? Any spell below Lvl 5? Any mechanical interaction I'm missing? Paralyzed has Lesser Restoration as the simplest answer that most "healy" spellcaster get.
@@yarion4774 Totally. Way of mercy monk can end the stunned condition at lvl 6 as an action using Physician's touch. You can also potentially polymorph into a creature that is just immune to being stunned or alternatively polymorph another player into a creature that is immune to being stunned, of which there are creatures at almost every CR. The lawful outer essence shard from TCE can end the stunned condition. (sorcerers only) Also do not forget that the source of the stun matters. If its magical in nature, dispel magic also works RaW.
First things first, you’re my favorite dnd content creator right now. The energy you have for the game and the type of content you create feels like it’s been infused with that energy in the best ways possible. All that aside, here’s my topic for you. I started as a player in 5e a number of years ago now and have been the forever DM for the majority of the time since. In that time, primarily due to scheduling issues, I have only been able to complete one campaign which truthfully went really well. In contrast to the one I’ve been able to finish, I have started 10+ different campaigns across my 3 groups and not a single time have we done a session 0. I’m always adamant about doing it because I want to sit down and go through character creation and have conversations about what types of campaigns everyone wants, but no one else does. This has lead to a couple instances of characters not fitting the overall theme of a setting, stories that players just aren’t as invested in because I’m left to figure things out on my own, and just so many other issues. Generally things work out okay, and I can say with certainty that those are not the leading factors of the campaigns not being completed, but at this point I have never done a session 0 and have never been able to get my players interested in doing one. Do you have any tips on what you do for your session 0s or anything I can try to make my players more interested in actually doing them? Also as an aside, would love to see a video one day where you go over the world you’ve created for your campaigns. I’m always interested in seeing what other people have come up with.
Riiiight!! Your villian shouldn't make people hate the game, but 'you', THE VILLIAN!! (this may drastically vary on their involvement in the dramatic arts.)
Also, maybe traumatized barbarian should be discussed with the party on session zero, maybe players want such charter, maybe they wanna care him or have chaotic fun
I’ve been prepping for a low magic high stakes combat fantasy game, using Symbaroum for it and from reading the rules, I’m so hyped to actually get into it and play it.
On stun: I agree that RAW stun is detrimental to the health of the game, however I personally do not write it out of my games. I make it thematic with a thing I like to call "loose stun" which is where mechanically for all intents and purposes, the player's physical body is considered stunned, but they take their turn doing something like fighting an alter ego or something. I provide my players stimulation and engagement with the game beyond stun. My players have never given me any complaints about this, they've told me that it's cool based on how I handled it. Since I only use stun in a regard like this, it appears very rarely and provides an entertaining narrative in my games. Specifically in the case of RAW, it does suck and really should not exist as it does.
The first two times playing DnD I didn’t quite know what I was doing, first using a ranger and didn’t understand the spell slots proper, and the second time using a basic barb at the request of the DM. They continued without me, and I wish they didn’t 😢
I play a DMPC to fill a missing role in the party and be a babysitter. I actively work to keep them out of the spotlight, and so far I’ve had no complaints!
Your reaction to the players who want the player to learn the game better was really really nice. As a player I'd be a bit frustrated, but as a DM and graphic designer/illustrator, I'd be trying to figure out how to create a better organized character sheet so that the information is easier for that player to find. Summoning a creature with a stat block could be just an extra card for them.
The best take I have about DMPCs is that they're best if they're a temporary but useful ally. My current DM uses them in our game, but they've never felt forced into the game or even really as a self insert. Just a companion to help us through the next adventure, like classic games
The merits of exp lay solely within the realm of the table dynamic. Some players (particularly people at the table I play with) like visual representation of progress. WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT we cant be fighting lvl 1 gobos to power level b4 a certain fight and etc. Narratively milestone is awesome, but I think the discussion stems from what people wnt from the game and not what makes sense in a RPing game. I don't mind either as a player. My only concern with milestone is if the GM doesn't make it clear the pace the game is moving at, specifically for Homebrew games. I think the table again should know and understand the pace so that they cant end up complaining milestone is "taking too long." Communication solves soooo many problems, and typically ppl who gravitate towards these games arent very good at it haha Edit: I love your videos and really appreciate your takes, thanks for all the laughs and thought provoking discussions!
Another character in my DnD game stole a magic item that we bought originally for one character because we thought they were getting planeshifted, but they had to leave the campaign so they were going to give the goggles to another character to try and help them find their children. He said "Sucks for you its what my character would do." The next session my character one shot him and took the goggles back. His current character is a lot less abrasive
One of the most obviously terrible features to include in a game are effects which stop players from playing it, yet WoTC chose to include like 3 of them. Stunning decision
It would be really nice if the friends of the casual dude that takes a long time in combat would make a few notecard cheat sheets to have in front of him as reminders of how sneak attack or whatever works in the game. I really love the way Zack reacted to this and I agree that jaut because this dude isnt a sweatlord for DnD, it doesnt make him a bad person
I love how the first question sent you off a spiral. That guy has never seen the parties face when you decides to make mind flayers and the dreaded int save happens
The one thing all say as a player of xp. It can be sort of fun and interactive to feel like you gain something from each thing you do. And it’s a number so you know if it’s a lot or not
I agree that something like stun or paralysis would be a really useful tool in improvising a combat where specifically you know your parties life cleric goes after the enemy but before everyone else and has a chance to solve a problem using their abilities it has its place in the rule set However, I think rhythmically giving the enemy haste or something to double their action economy esentially making the players slower and the enemies faster would feel a lot more thrilling and have essentially the same effect
I think a good fix to the stun condition is to just slightly alter it so instead of being a turn skipper make it so whatever creature/character is stunned is unable to take reactions, not have a bonus action on its turn, and have its movement speed halved. That way they can still act, yet also have trouble due to being stunned.
I think GinniDi said about traumatic backstories "Happy well-adjusted people don't go risking their lives on adventures". It's a little too broad, but I do think she has a good point. I don't mind a party of four tortured souls as much as I mind a pack of lone wolves who all want to do their own thing.
If you think stun is bad I think perchance it might be how YOU use stun. Major Villians being able to stun allows for dynamic fights where the objective of the fight can change mid fight from "hit the guy with the spells and weapons" to "how do we distract him and save our teammate from their vulnerable state". Its also an extremely useful tool to use when making encounters where the monster you're running is by itself and overwhelmed in action economy. that being said its kinda wild to say there's no middleground, stun would suck if your combats are taking 15min per turn thats straight up unfun. But like... mine don't take 15 min per turn bc my players are attentive and know the game, a stun might make them wait an extra 5-6 min per turn but theyre not NOT playing the game, theyre involved in whats happening and how their friends are reacting.
In a game where roleplay is what matters most, failing to see the stun condition as a potential roleplay moment for the player effected as well as the entire party is a mistake.
100% agree most of my groups combats take around 20-30 minutes in total. With some players taking really long (the ones who only play cause we’re their friends) and then the DnD lovers only taking around a minute at most. Sure it suck at time, but that’s when the party comes together to protect them. Also people who don’t plan for things like stun or paralyze are just shit out of luck cause that was an eventually that they didn’t plan for, of course it’s gonna suck.
I have been dming for 4ish years now via text and in all my games (and all my friends games) we have party npcs which are there start to finish and it works well for us,just serves really as a way for the dm to rp cause we all love it
Totally gonna out myself with this one, but I am a DM that keeps long-term NPCs. I've only done it with one campaign (current one), and tbh my entire party of 6 loves them. Now that definitely isn't to say they're always okay or you couldn't do alternative things for why I personally use them in this one campaign. The reason why I think it works for us is because I don't let them ever have the spotlight, and they really only talk when the Party requests to speak to them. Both of them are NPCs that share back stories with some of the members (they simple knew them before) AND they have actual stakes in the plot. The best way I could describe them are like companions like Halsin or Dame Aylin in BG3- there, but definitely in the background. Again, not to say it works for everyone or that everyone should like it, just providing a different perspective for a DM with a table that it definitely works for.
I love XP because as a DM I'm always throwing awesome stories at my players. And their characters are doing super cool things. When I ran milestone I would give too many levels, every other session the players did something I considered level-worthy. And especially when it got to higher levels and they started killing devils and solving mass problems. Also in my games, if you miss a session you get half xp, so people have to actually show up, they aren't just given participation trophies. The player who hasn't missed a session and is always trying to engage with the adventure and lore is at a higher level than the player who misses all the time and ignores plot hooks. I do have audience member players, and I reward them for their style, just to make sure they aren't left out when it comes to power level. If I were to structure my game around milestone then it would work, but I run a game with much less linear storytelling, so Milestone is much harder for me to run successfully. I think XP does well to serve as a reward to encourage players to make good, smart, and in-character choices. Magic items, feats, and other things can be used as rewards too, and I do use them. But having another system of reward I've found is great in my dnd games. Yes, I am going to take it to a publisher.
24:10 For the guy who asked about what you can do to help that player who take long turns help him have some print outs and such that will work for his character on when and what works. Try to help him with combos and case scenarios that will speed up combat.
I was running a game based loosely on lost mines of phandelvor, and with the side quest to the ruins of Thunder tree, instead of playing the NPC myself, I invited a friend to play him for me. The NPC became a permanent PC for the rest of the campaign. So much better than me playing him as a DM NPC.
I've been paralyzed for like 8 turns after failing a save in Pathfinder once. That being said, I still think that negative status effects should still be used by both party and the DM.
I really liked the note about more serious vs silly moments in DND, there have been so many moments where as a player I make the stupidest dumbest brainrot joke and go "my character wouldn't say that" and yknow what I am trying to care less because its silly! DND is a silly game! We are having fun! And we can be serious too but it's ok to crack a joke in or out of character! Embrace the stupid jokes for the love of god we all need some comic relief
Im a firm believer in xp/milestone hybrid. I do milestone but i also track xp to the side just for combat for the rare case that what ive thrown at the players would have had them leveled sooner. I brought this about because of milestone games i actually play in where i've leveled 1-2 times a year, otherwise far too slow for me a pace for me in weekly 4-6 hour games.
15:43 That whole dealing with Trauma situation reminds me, that Wisdom isn’t Willpower and that Willpower needs to be a stat. Most Min-Max-ers wouldn’t put too many points into WIS, but a (cliché) Barbarian would suck it up and not start crying about past inconveniences. The Trope-y Barbarian may not be wise, but he is strong willed for sure. (Edit: Imagine Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s Barbarian spending the entire Movie whining and moaning about the death of his parents and his servitude as a slave and pit fighter instead of going on his epic quest 😂)
Question for you! My group has homebrewed a few rules to keep the dungeon from being a grind. One rule is the execution rule: if an enemy has one hp left the DM declares them to be "bloodied", and if you land a hit, you get to describe a brutal execution; full cinematic. Another rule is the called shot: if you roll 10 or more above the enemy's AC, you can make a called shot, and hinder a target based on what you hit. What are your takes on those homebrew rules, and what are some you use to keep things interesting in combat?
![ไลฟ์สุ่ม iPhone 295 บาท... โกงมั้ย?[ โกงมั้ยครับ ep.97 ] | DOM](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/gdstHEE4UUE/mqdefault.jpg)
Cant wait for my weekly session of Zach spiraling into madness over acid splash
I need this comment pinned
45 minute episodes? No thanks. I need several hours; at the end, you're drenched in sweat, holding your ears, rocking back and forth mumbling about the pits. Don't short change me!
Exactly! We demand MORE
MORE!!!
*Chaotic Neutral character sets fire to an orphanage*
“It’S wHaT mY cHaRaCtEr WoUlD dO”
@zachthebold You’re the GOAT brother, keep up the great work 🫵🐐
Do you prefer they write down chaotic evil and still do it?
@@sqfzerzefsdf I would prefer they played the game with evreyone, the alignment system is dumb anyways
@@ZeldaDPDePietro I was mostly commenting on that alignment receiving complaints due to problem players. I also don't think the system is dumb, it's a general idea of how your character behaves if you don't have a straight answer and you can change alignments depending on your actions during the campaign.
also "playing with everyone" depends on your group. for some groups, this IS how you play. that's why session 0's are a must and people still do it way too little.
if you don't communicate beforehand goody 2 shoes are just as off beat to the evil characters as the other way around, so talk about it.
Even in a full hero campaign you can still utilize evil PCs they just can't be chaotic stupid. (except some technicalities like "so dumb he ends up doing good with his 'evil'")
@@sqfzerzefsdf The aligment system has two things in mind 1. Spells and Powers that requiere you to be of an aligment "Smite Evil" for example 2. The Cosmos of DND with Chaos gods, Lawful Gods, etc
Using it as a 'personality' or 'morality' system dosen't work, that's why is kinda dumb.
You can grab a character or an action and have 500 essays of arguments on wich alignment they are.
Robin hood is the example character for Chaotic Good but he HAS a moral law system and follows it, you could argue "Lawful" is about the law of the land but it dosen't make sense when you can have Cities or Races be "Chaotic" in alignment, if the law of the land is "Killing good" then are they Chaotic or Lawful???
"Evil" in 3rd edition dosen't even mean "Someone who does evil acts" it means someone who comes from an evil plane (Like a devil or demon)
Before I watch this, Imma make a prediction; Zach sweats a flood into Los Angeles f*cking up the ecosystem even more than it already is
I was right.
Oh, neat, it's time for my weekly mug full of unrelenting fury.
I'm 2 minutes in and zachthebald is already SEETHING with rage
ZACH THE BALD 🥚
The word Traumatic in a backstory is needless. Life is Trauma, anyone who tells you differently is selling something.
I also like The Princess Bride :)
I appreciate your enthusiasm and candid approach to gaming from both sides of the screen. As a player and (forever) DM since 1e, it's so cool to see newer generations taking up the mantle of gaming and having such a passion for the game. Though I don't agree with *everything* you say, you do bring up some very valid points, and you've given this old wolf a few good slants and more than a few good points to ponder. Please keep calling out those things that many others are too timid to tackle. It's crystal that you love D&D (5e is definitely boss) and gaming in general, so I'm a fan. Thank you!
You’re a G, supporting our G my man
@@CrazyWizza- a privilege, truly
Personally, I think the Stun condition is one of the harshest ones to afflict on a character. I say this because the Stun condition has no counterplay. The turn(s)... just gone. I do think it has it's place in the game, but the cause should have an equal amount of weight as the effect. So more than one saving throw, or it happening after a player makes a risky / bad decision. That kinda thing. I also think that applies to the player's as well. As much as I love Monk; something like Stunning strike can be pretty overwhelming. The solution there is a bit different, and I think would work both ways; make the "Stun" condition harder and harder to do repeatedly in a certain time frame. It might be counter intuitive to real life combat; getting knocked so hard you can't move IRL is gonna hurt more and more, but in D&D it'd give both sides the knowledge that this powerful effect will only work for so long. It'd help keep things tense.
Or not idk thats just my opinion.
There are several skills, feats and items that can end a stun.
By your logic everything that takes away player agency is bad and would rob the game of half its appeal.
You are right. Stand proud for your opinion.
@@Glaswalker1001 Many players look forward to combat because they are almost guaranteed agency within it. I want my players to feel good about combat, not sit there and watch everyone else feel good about combat. Sorry, I don't like stealing away a player's turn or giving them items specifically so that I can't steal away their turn and that do little else. I want my players to focus on trying to build upon their choice of classes and subclasses and not have to worry about how unless they take certain skills from specific classes, a random enemy can throw their whole turn out with a stun.
This is very similar to my middle-ground take as well. I actually think Darkest Dungeon did it correctly. Players can be stunned, BUT it's much harder for enemies to stun players than vice versa. Also, all stuns expire the next round no matter what, and once you are stunned you get stun resistance for a round to prevent stun lock. Good system in that regard. And I don't think it's "unrealistic" either; the idea of a 'stun' is that you are dazed from getting hit harder than you were expecting to be. If you get hit again, well you're expecting it this time!
@@Glaswalker1001Yes, taking away people's agency is not great. There is a social contract between players, including game masters.
DM'd an XP based game where about 50% party were XP grinders who decided they wanted to turn on their allies "for the XP". I was disencouraged by XP to say the least but managed to convince them not to kill their allies. Won't be using XP again especially considering that after every single combat I'm met with barage of questions about when their leveling up... "yes, technically killing this group of harmless farmers would give you more XP- but... too late they killed them all"
You forgot the classic tool for this. Negative XP for civilians or innocent farmers. Its not a challenge to kill peasants, so it should always be 0 XP or just negative if you want to punish this behavior.
Unless if your players are going for a villain campaign tho, from what it seems evil campaigns are easy to level early on, but later you cant just kill civilians for XP. Plus consequences from your actions
@@DoubleKillExtreme That's actually genius, typically I just said "Nahhh no XP cos they were passive" but I like a negative XP system
Oldschool punishments for extreme actions are quite usually the solution.
For what's effectively a rant podcast, that was such an unexpectedly compassionate and emotionally intelligent response concerning the player who takes a long time for their turns. Thanks for the great advice and perspective.
I played in a game recently and killed another player’s character. Basically the DM and the player had this character arc in mind for this crazy tabaxi character that the player created.
But the character literally acted opposite the party and constantly made us go to save him (which was totally uncharacteristic for our characters) because the player is our friend and we want him to have fun.
Anyways, there have been several combats where the DM says the tabaxi has a vision or whatever and he just attacks us and we have to subdue him.
Another detail is that my character made a deal with a benefactor to get the story moving along. Basically we all had to give sensitive info to this NPC to get him to trust us and use as blackmail so we don’t betray him. My PC is on a mission to save his brother, and left his daughter and pregnant wife home without him so he can rid a curse on himself and his brother.
I missed a session and the tabaxi betrayed this NPC, so my character’s family was screwed now because of it.
In the last session we played, it was a really challenging combat the entire party was down except for my PC because he is a gloomstalker and it was dark. So I’m at full hp while the rest of the party is downed. It’s just me, our cleric at 13 hp, and the tabaxi at 2 hp. The boss tells the tabaxi to listen to him. DM didn’t make him roll, the player freely chose to cast sleep on our cleric.
I, a 5th level ranger, saw that we were absolutely f*cked because of that casting of sleep. So I shot the tabaxi twice with my bow, in hopes that he would die on his death save. He did.
Anyways, we make it out of that fight barely, and the nearly defeated boss npc surrenders and says, “don’t kill me or your tabaxi friend stays dead. I can bring him back.”
I told the DM, “I knock two arrows and shoot him in the face.”
The tabaxi player left the call like 40 minutes prior because his character was dead. But after the session, the entire party was complaining about all the stuff the tabaxi did that was just screwing with us and our plans. Our DM said he had no idea we all didn’t enjoy that. As if yes we love derailing everything for a character that just fights against us in combat when we are losing. But it was because we just didn’t want to tell our friend no and expected the DM to do so. It never happened, so I took it into my own hands. The next day the player had the audacity to ask me why I did that, as if he didn’t do stuff to literally thwart us or derail the entire game. So I told him, logically it’s what my character would do, since he was simply doing what his character would do as well.
My character sees this person as a consistent threat to him, his family, and his other allies. Because no change has happened and the character has not developed or learned at all over the course of 20 sessions, he had to go.
The Polo made him 20% less the joker and 20% more Brian Murphy
Zach better start his next episode of Bold Takes eating a half pound beef and cheddar, It would be peak
As a DM, I personally don't hate the blinded, stunned, poisoned conditions, etc, but I like to use them on the person it affects the least or has the highest save first to give my players that sense of danger and urgency and prioritizing who needs to avoid what. Using a mind control condition on a character that saves means when they're able to identify that's what he was doing, they know to NOT let that happen to the Barbarian.
God I love refreshing to see a new post
hearing Zach is a monk main makes me smile over here with my level 5 monk :D
A monk main hating the stun mechanic is my new favorite
"XP dungeon masters make things up as they go!"
....um...Zach...that's the whole job of the DM right? Love your content. I do milestone too.
I think you missed the entire point.
I’m losing my mind
"Make things up as they go" in regards to mental-gymnastics on why xp is better than milestones (to the point that xp based leveling becomes milestone leveling, with a funny number to ogle at)
To be devils advocate, people like number go up, if DM can make it more fun with number go up (for some definition of "more fun" across the entire group, DM included), then let number go up. Is it comedic irony if it ends up similar in practice to milestone? Yeah. Is it a problem? I don't see it.
Barbarian: AGGHGGHGGHGGHHGHGGG TRUAMA
Some teen: Sir this is a Wendy’s…
hi zach!! i think every video you make is literally peak humor and im eating up these podcasts. please dont shorten them bro im begging you to keep these episodes an hour long‼️ i DM’d over the summer for my friends and tried to prep and homebrew an entire world with deep lore in 2 months while doing an internship, and it was genuinely so stressful to manage that i instantly got burnt out of DMing by the time summer was over. but your videos have genuinely inspired me to start thinking about my world more, and maybe even try to DM again alongside my classes. anyways thanks again for the great content, it keeps me sane while i wait to play again as my beautiful baby boy Norbert every thursday night with my friends.
on the topic of the dude who takes a bazillion years for his turns, I'm a big min maxer as a player, so I (for the most part) know all my player's builds that I gm for, so when they're starting their turn or doing stuff, I'll correct them or ask them if they forewent some extra bit to their character if they meant to do so, or just break down a turn for them if their options are limited like "your best bet is either flank, punch twice, do this, or use this magic item and flee" or something to that effect. It can be a bit overwhelming if you're juggling a particularly taxing encounter or planning stuff behind the scenes with someone in dms/texts, but basically how I mitigate the slow player is just break it down for em, then once they pick a course of action remind em "hey, prof at this lvl is X, and your sneak attack die at this lvl is Xd6, and don't forget your dex mod to your main hand strike. ok, and did you want to use your bonus action for anything? you still have a second attack, where's that going. yeah, you can disengage as a bonus action with your cunning action, go for it." shit like that. since I already know most of their playstyles / builds, it's suuuper easy for me to just fill in the blanks if they're not playing like they normally do or after a game look up their class and min max the best strategies for them so next sesh i can walk them through even better damage output or statistically better order of operations, etc etc
Interrogation scenes (more like torture scenes) I just summarize now.
The last time we did an RP interrogation session was in a D&D / boardgame cafe with a decent amount of people present.
The party had captured a bugbear to interrogate on the whereabouts / identity of his boss.
It quickly spiraled into mutilating his privates. I don't even know if bugbears have privates and I don't want to know.
The bugbear broke free, combat ensued and they still insisted on targetting his crown jewels. Not coming up with anything better on the spot I had them roll with disadvantage. It was a mess.
We're not going back to that cafe any time soon.
Another insane rant from ZacTheWet. This podcast is great!
I'm the stunned essay author! Loved the reaction, Zach. Awesome video as usual, sorry my comment was so long. The TL:DR is: "Crowd controlling players isn't that bad, the 'Can't even play the game!' comment basically sums up the overreaction. You're playing the game, you just can't take your turn right now". Keep the rants unhinged, we might disagree here, but I also ain't letting anyone acid splash my locks!
Meh, I've been a victim of a stun effect many times. I could have stayed home and nothing would have changed. 3 hours of my life washed down the drain. It wasn't fun or interesting. There was no counterplay. I didn't make any choices, take any actions, or do anything except roll a die that didn't matter because nothing I rolled would have broken me out of a DC22 Stun effect with a +1 to the save.
This has been my experience with stun every single time in the last 30 years I've been playing D&D. It's NEVER fun. Stun is just telling your players, "Yeah, F- you. You can't do anything for an hour or two."
stun is a great crowd control tool to move a players attention from the game onto their phones for the next 30 minutes
Thank you DnD George Costanza. You have good words
My favorite part of these is how Zach always says the name of the podcast wrong haha
Has he gotten it right yet? 😂
In regards 49:00 where you try to make a metaphor for how to describe DnD, TTRPGs, and other systems to people completely out of the loop, the way I’ve found it best to describe TTRPGs, DnD, other systems, and how they all relate is that “Tabletop RPGs” is like, a video game genre, or a book genre. There’s a few overarching staple bits and pieces almost every system/genre shares. For example, in almost every RTS, you’re typically in a birds-eye view, or at the very least a third-person view where you control and order around multiple units in real time and typically involves combat (whether PvP or PvE) Or how almost every mystery novel there’s often a description of the core “mystery” early on into the series, but it typically doesn’t reveal the answer of the mystery so you’re also interested in seeing what the truth is. The story follows the main characters as they piece together clues, and then typically ends with the characters piecing it all together.
TTRPGs are fundamentally all similar to some degree. Like a video game genre, book genre; etc, they all share a few core bits and pieces. Almost every TTRPG involves multiple players, each player typically has a “character sheet/unit sheet/player sheet” that lists out what a character can do, it usually involved rolling dice in order to determine the outcomes of actions.
But, like games within a video game genre, or some books within the mystery genre, each tabletop RPG system has its own nuances. DnD mostly uses D20’s, GURPS uses D6’s
Thus, DnD is an individual series within an entire “tabletop RPG genre.” If you want to take the metaphor further in regards to relating AD&D, 2E, 3.5E, 5E, it’s like novels in a specific series, or video games in a particular franchise.
Thus, DnD, Pathfinder, GURPS are all different “series/franches”, while AD&D, 2E, 3.5E, 5E are individual “games/books” within the series. Which is all still apart of the tabletop RPG “genre.”
I DM'd ONE encounter that had a monk and a blood hunter with hold person. Our barbarian got stunned by the monk for almost the whole fight and our fighter almost got killed instantly after failing the hold person save. I have never ran anything that could paralyze/stun again. I'm okay if the party runs stun mechanics but I, myself, will refrain from using it against the party for the time being.
what are we getting mad about and yapping about today, zach?
The part about the self-insert DM NPC feels like an epiphany was happening, lol.
The main problem with stun is that it can last for one minute. The way I run it is that if one of my players gets stunned, it will only be for the one turn, and then it fades. The player can make the Saving Throw again on their turn, and it counts as their action, so if they pass, they still get their bonus action and movement. If they fail, their turn is skipped, but the condition immediately ends, so they have access to reactions after their turn. I also limit stunning enemies in my game, and my main bbegs don't have access to stun. I'd rather highlight something else to make them difficult in combat. Or the party can steamroll them, as long as their having fun, that's all that matters.
I simultaneously want these episodes to be linger and feel like I've been watching for 6 years. For clarification: I love these, I'll be loyally watching until episode 250.
My next campaign I will have an NPC character that bursts into the room a la Kool-aid man named Mr Bold every time they take too much time planning or shopping. 😅
This is quite literally one of the most entertaining podcasts ive listened to in a while.
Holy shit, I thought I was the only one who cared about the Arby's on Hollywood closing. I remember going there like a month ago for some of those seasoned fries and was crying on the inside.
I love this series so much GIVE ME THE CHAOS, GIVE ME THE RAGE - so many DND takes deserve someone jumping behind a mic and going insane over it
Sending this for the goon platoon snack fund. Please keep doing these man. Usually im not a big fan of podcasts at all but i cant stop watching these keep it up man!
That sentiment of "I don't wanna play in your game, and I'm sure there are people say the same about mine" is one I've really had to internalise. I really love filler, I think downtime and smaller character moments are what make the epic moments matter for me, so I probably wouldn't want to play in your game, but you'd probably hate playing in mine and I think that's the beautiful thing about TTRPGs and this wonderful hobbies.
another perfectly timed podcast for my sleep. Thank you dear god Zack
Man, the whole topic of Stun just brings back memories of a campaign that wrapped up earlier this year, final combat of the campaign and my character got stunned on turn 1 by a (as mentioned in the previous episode) Mind Flayer, queue to a 1.5 hour combat where I didn't make the saving throw until round 4 or 5 I think? I definitely thought the mind flayers were super smart and tactical enemies because I *checks notes* couldn't roll high. Dreadful status effect, literally don't use it against the players I DM for.
My very first session ever, my first character ever, a very impatient monk with a half a sentence of backstory (the concept was a Harley Quinn/Jinx-esc neurodivergent charecter that i didn't have that much time to delve into deeper before the first session i joined). There I instantly covered myself with the poorest excuse of "It's what my character would do" after engaging a group of enemies and causing a TPK... honestly the most humbling experience for me that lead me to actually sit down and turn a few marbles in my head before jumping straight into wild spontaneous ideas. So i guess having that moment once or twice and being heavily punished for it might not be the worst thing ever.
On a totally unrelated side note I would love to hear your take on Counterspell since the new changes seem to gut the spell down to a bone and a friend of mine is glad about it and thinks it's a deserved balance, while I on the other hand disaggree and believe it to be too much and maybe not even healthy for the game itself
Looking forward for the next episode and all your short content that you dish out so impeccably. Hopefully the heat doesn't desolve you by then :D
Most of the misery in our lives is made up of things found on a schedule. Your content just dropping randomly on any old day, good or bad, can be a real refresher.
Re: the Stun Condition. Even in Monopoly (a game that gets as much hate as it deserves), you can still buy, sell & collect rent off of your properties while in jail. If a condition in a TTRPG is LESS FUN than being in JAIL IN MONOPOLY (to say nothing of how long each condition lasts), something has gone disastrously wrong.
Someone get this man some AC he works too hard for us
He mentioned in a previous episode he has AC its just too loud to record with
@@BigCurryCorp oh I forgot lol. Maybe I don’t listen close enough
12:24 the traumatic backstory is kinda weird because everyone has a traumatic backstory because who becomes an adventurer for fun?
Here's the thing about stun and things similar to stun. Your players have might have the tools to end the condition. If you're a DM who is using it, and your players have that option: fair game. And thats smart, because you're paying attention to what your players can do and giving them the chance to utilize it. And then they can't get mad at you, because they had the option to prevent/stop it, and they didn't, so its entirely their fault for eating crayons.
Honest question: What are tools to end the Stunned condition? On the fly I can think of Cleansing Touch from 14th lvl Paladin or Way of Mercy Monk at lvl 6. But besides that? Any spell below Lvl 5? Any mechanical interaction I'm missing?
Paralyzed has Lesser Restoration as the simplest answer that most "healy" spellcaster get.
@@yarion4774 Totally.
Way of mercy monk can end the stunned condition at lvl 6 as an action using Physician's touch.
You can also potentially polymorph into a creature that is just immune to being stunned or alternatively polymorph another player into a creature that is immune to being stunned, of which there are creatures at almost every CR.
The lawful outer essence shard from TCE can end the stunned condition. (sorcerers only)
Also do not forget that the source of the stun matters. If its magical in nature, dispel magic also works RaW.
The whole time you're ranting (love btw, and same), I keep singing "I'm a little teacup" because of the one little loop in your hair lol
Some people don't have FUN, they have control.
Bars
Zach: I don't think I look like Jeremy Allen White.
TH-cam: People in this video - Jeremy Allen White
Saw one of your shorts and had to come check to see if ep 4 was out and I got here 20 mins after release!!! Loveeee these, keep up the amazing work ❤
First things first, you’re my favorite dnd content creator right now. The energy you have for the game and the type of content you create feels like it’s been infused with that energy in the best ways possible. All that aside, here’s my topic for you.
I started as a player in 5e a number of years ago now and have been the forever DM for the majority of the time since. In that time, primarily due to scheduling issues, I have only been able to complete one campaign which truthfully went really well. In contrast to the one I’ve been able to finish, I have started 10+ different campaigns across my 3 groups and not a single time have we done a session 0. I’m always adamant about doing it because I want to sit down and go through character creation and have conversations about what types of campaigns everyone wants, but no one else does. This has lead to a couple instances of characters not fitting the overall theme of a setting, stories that players just aren’t as invested in because I’m left to figure things out on my own, and just so many other issues. Generally things work out okay, and I can say with certainty that those are not the leading factors of the campaigns not being completed, but at this point I have never done a session 0 and have never been able to get my players interested in doing one. Do you have any tips on what you do for your session 0s or anything I can try to make my players more interested in actually doing them?
Also as an aside, would love to see a video one day where you go over the world you’ve created for your campaigns. I’m always interested in seeing what other people have come up with.
Riiiight!! Your villian shouldn't make people hate the game, but 'you', THE VILLIAN!! (this may drastically vary on their involvement in the dramatic arts.)
Also, maybe traumatized barbarian should be discussed with the party on session zero, maybe players want such charter, maybe they wanna care him or have chaotic fun
More and longer is my vote but it’s not my podcast and nobody asked me so you do you but need more please!!
I’ve been prepping for a low magic high stakes combat fantasy game, using Symbaroum for it and from reading the rules, I’m so hyped to actually get into it and play it.
On stun:
I agree that RAW stun is detrimental to the health of the game, however I personally do not write it out of my games. I make it thematic with a thing I like to call "loose stun" which is where mechanically for all intents and purposes, the player's physical body is considered stunned, but they take their turn doing something like fighting an alter ego or something. I provide my players stimulation and engagement with the game beyond stun. My players have never given me any complaints about this, they've told me that it's cool based on how I handled it. Since I only use stun in a regard like this, it appears very rarely and provides an entertaining narrative in my games. Specifically in the case of RAW, it does suck and really should not exist as it does.
Love this show, been wanting a dnd rant podcast like this for a while!
The first two times playing DnD I didn’t quite know what I was doing, first using a ranger and didn’t understand the spell slots proper, and the second time using a basic barb at the request of the DM. They continued without me, and I wish they didn’t 😢
Zach I would love to watch a series of you ranting and tearing apart the new PHB and DMG
I play a DMPC to fill a missing role in the party and be a babysitter. I actively work to keep them out of the spotlight, and so far I’ve had no complaints!
That 'the goblins' and 'the pits' part of the podcast made me laugh so hard my parents thought I was going insane.
No fucking way you ALSO have the kickstarter exclusive mythcraft core rulebook!
Playing rage games and listening to this, great combo!
Your reaction to the players who want the player to learn the game better was really really nice. As a player I'd be a bit frustrated, but as a DM and graphic designer/illustrator, I'd be trying to figure out how to create a better organized character sheet so that the information is easier for that player to find. Summoning a creature with a stat block could be just an extra card for them.
Zach’s face melting during the whole video, like Acid Splashes fan casted it on him for badmouthing The Best Cantrip
Wow…only 45 minutes. I need 10 boldillion year long episodes of just sweat and anger with the white balance changing every single frame
The best take I have about DMPCs is that they're best if they're a temporary but useful ally. My current DM uses them in our game, but they've never felt forced into the game or even really as a self insert. Just a companion to help us through the next adventure, like classic games
The merits of exp lay solely within the realm of the table dynamic. Some players (particularly people at the table I play with) like visual representation of progress. WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT we cant be fighting lvl 1 gobos to power level b4 a certain fight and etc. Narratively milestone is awesome, but I think the discussion stems from what people wnt from the game and not what makes sense in a RPing game. I don't mind either as a player.
My only concern with milestone is if the GM doesn't make it clear the pace the game is moving at, specifically for Homebrew games. I think the table again should know and understand the pace so that they cant end up complaining milestone is "taking too long."
Communication solves soooo many problems, and typically ppl who gravitate towards these games arent very good at it haha
Edit: I love your videos and really appreciate your takes, thanks for all the laughs and thought provoking discussions!
Another character in my DnD game stole a magic item that we bought originally for one character because we thought they were getting planeshifted, but they had to leave the campaign so they were going to give the goggles to another character to try and help them find their children. He said "Sucks for you its what my character would do." The next session my character one shot him and took the goggles back. His current character is a lot less abrasive
One of the most obviously terrible features to include in a game are effects which stop players from playing it, yet WoTC chose to include like 3 of them. Stunning decision
10/10 pun i love you😭
It would be really nice if the friends of the casual dude that takes a long time in combat would make a few notecard cheat sheets to have in front of him as reminders of how sneak attack or whatever works in the game. I really love the way Zack reacted to this and I agree that jaut because this dude isnt a sweatlord for DnD, it doesnt make him a bad person
I love how the first question sent you off a spiral. That guy has never seen the parties face when you decides to make mind flayers and the dreaded int save happens
I think you might be surprised about how unique the dynamics that people can bring to you at their table can get.
this is the only podcast that captures how online D&D content makes me feel
The one thing all say as a player of xp. It can be sort of fun and interactive to feel like you gain something from each thing you do. And it’s a number so you know if it’s a lot or not
Continuing the streak of A+ takes for another episode!
I agree that stun is bad. You can't play the game with it.
That's why you also don't have sleep, or any possibility of character death.
My favorite chaotic podcast to listen to while i do the dishes fr
LETSGO ITS MY MONDAY DOSE OF BOLD THE ZACH
I agree that something like stun or paralysis would be a really useful tool in improvising a combat where specifically you know your parties life cleric goes after the enemy but before everyone else and has a chance to solve a problem using their abilities it has its place in the rule set
However, I think rhythmically giving the enemy haste or something to double their action economy esentially making the players slower and the enemies faster would feel a lot more thrilling and have essentially the same effect
I think a good fix to the stun condition is to just slightly alter it so instead of being a turn skipper make it so whatever creature/character is stunned is unable to take reactions, not have a bonus action on its turn, and have its movement speed halved. That way they can still act, yet also have trouble due to being stunned.
I think GinniDi said about traumatic backstories "Happy well-adjusted people don't go risking their lives on adventures". It's a little too broad, but I do think she has a good point. I don't mind a party of four tortured souls as much as I mind a pack of lone wolves who all want to do their own thing.
If you think stun is bad I think perchance it might be how YOU use stun. Major Villians being able to stun allows for dynamic fights where the objective of the fight can change mid fight from "hit the guy with the spells and weapons" to "how do we distract him and save our teammate from their vulnerable state". Its also an extremely useful tool to use when making encounters where the monster you're running is by itself and overwhelmed in action economy.
that being said its kinda wild to say there's no middleground, stun would suck if your combats are taking 15min per turn thats straight up unfun. But like... mine don't take 15 min per turn bc my players are attentive and know the game, a stun might make them wait an extra 5-6 min per turn but theyre not NOT playing the game, theyre involved in whats happening and how their friends are reacting.
In a game where roleplay is what matters most, failing to see the stun condition as a potential roleplay moment for the player effected as well as the entire party is a mistake.
100% agree most of my groups combats take around 20-30 minutes in total. With some players taking really long (the ones who only play cause we’re their friends) and then the DnD lovers only taking around a minute at most. Sure it suck at time, but that’s when the party comes together to protect them. Also people who don’t plan for things like stun or paralyze are just shit out of luck cause that was an eventually that they didn’t plan for, of course it’s gonna suck.
I have been dming for 4ish years now via text and in all my games (and all my friends games) we have party npcs which are there start to finish and it works well for us,just serves really as a way for the dm to rp cause we all love it
Totally gonna out myself with this one, but I am a DM that keeps long-term NPCs. I've only done it with one campaign (current one), and tbh my entire party of 6 loves them. Now that definitely isn't to say they're always okay or you couldn't do alternative things for why I personally use them in this one campaign. The reason why I think it works for us is because I don't let them ever have the spotlight, and they really only talk when the Party requests to speak to them. Both of them are NPCs that share back stories with some of the members (they simple knew them before) AND they have actual stakes in the plot. The best way I could describe them are like companions like Halsin or Dame Aylin in BG3- there, but definitely in the background. Again, not to say it works for everyone or that everyone should like it, just providing a different perspective for a DM with a table that it definitely works for.
I love XP because as a DM I'm always throwing awesome stories at my players. And their characters are doing super cool things. When I ran milestone I would give too many levels, every other session the players did something I considered level-worthy. And especially when it got to higher levels and they started killing devils and solving mass problems.
Also in my games, if you miss a session you get half xp, so people have to actually show up, they aren't just given participation trophies. The player who hasn't missed a session and is always trying to engage with the adventure and lore is at a higher level than the player who misses all the time and ignores plot hooks.
I do have audience member players, and I reward them for their style, just to make sure they aren't left out when it comes to power level.
If I were to structure my game around milestone then it would work, but I run a game with much less linear storytelling, so Milestone is much harder for me to run successfully. I think XP does well to serve as a reward to encourage players to make good, smart, and in-character choices. Magic items, feats, and other things can be used as rewards too, and I do use them. But having another system of reward I've found is great in my dnd games.
Yes, I am going to take it to a publisher.
24:10 For the guy who asked about what you can do to help that player who take long turns help him have some print outs and such that will work for his character on when and what works. Try to help him with combos and case scenarios that will speed up combat.
I was running a game based loosely on lost mines of phandelvor, and with the side quest to the ruins of Thunder tree, instead of playing the NPC myself, I invited a friend to play him for me. The NPC became a permanent PC for the rest of the campaign. So much better than me playing him as a DM NPC.
this podcast is psychotic and rapidly becoming the highlight of my day. ~charmed condition~
Ha, the only DND podcast! 🤣 Only funny because the only other podcast I could think of is Bob World Builders "It's what OUR character would do" lmao
I've been paralyzed for like 8 turns after failing a save in Pathfinder once. That being said, I still think that negative status effects should still be used by both party and the DM.
I really liked the note about more serious vs silly moments in DND, there have been so many moments where as a player I make the stupidest dumbest brainrot joke and go "my character wouldn't say that" and yknow what I am trying to care less because its silly! DND is a silly game! We are having fun! And we can be serious too but it's ok to crack a joke in or out of character! Embrace the stupid jokes for the love of god we all need some comic relief
Im a firm believer in xp/milestone hybrid. I do milestone but i also track xp to the side just for combat for the rare case that what ive thrown at the players would have had them leveled sooner.
I brought this about because of milestone games i actually play in where i've leveled 1-2 times a year, otherwise far too slow for me a pace for me in weekly 4-6 hour games.
15:43 That whole dealing with Trauma situation reminds me, that Wisdom isn’t Willpower and that Willpower needs to be a stat. Most Min-Max-ers wouldn’t put too many points into WIS, but a (cliché) Barbarian would suck it up and not start crying about past inconveniences.
The Trope-y Barbarian may not be wise, but he is strong willed for sure.
(Edit: Imagine Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s Barbarian spending the entire Movie whining and moaning about the death of his parents and his servitude as a slave and pit fighter instead of going on his epic quest 😂)
i like when th e funny man point and scream at camera, brings me joy
Question for you!
My group has homebrewed a few rules to keep the dungeon from being a grind.
One rule is the execution rule: if an enemy has one hp left the DM declares them to be "bloodied", and if you land a hit, you get to describe a brutal execution; full cinematic.
Another rule is the called shot: if you roll 10 or more above the enemy's AC, you can make a called shot, and hinder a target based on what you hit.
What are your takes on those homebrew rules, and what are some you use to keep things interesting in combat?
please keep it around an hour :( It's so good
My favorite podcast series with Jeremy Allen White
I definitely don't play ttrpgs the same way as Zac, but I do remember his hot takes when I start getting too generous with my players.
.... -looks up Jeremy Allen White- .... IT'S THE HAIR! THAT'S ALL IT IS! XD
P.S. Never do Patreon. Ko-Fi: 100x time better (literally).