Brian Murphy of NADDPOD is an Encounter Design Genius (SPOILERS!)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 มิ.ย. 2024
- Not Another D&D Podcast has some of the best combat encounters I've ever heard. And it's all thanks to Brian Murphy, AKA Murph, and his brilliant encounter design. Let's break it down!
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If I remember correctly he even rolled the fight between balnor and the 4 huntsman to see how many rounds the party had. Murph is for sure a true dice believer, lives by dice christ.
Live by the dice, die by the dice
Another thing murph does really well is when a member gets paralyzed or sleeped, he narrates a scene for them to sit through, so they dont just get skipped on their turn. Its a unique way of making something boring very engaging (hardwon seeing a flashback of his parents, moonshine seeing her aunt, bev seeing his dad in hell)
And he did a fantastic job of that sort of stuff in C3 as well. And how he made the monk adversary apply levels of temporary exhaustion instead of stunning strikes was genius.
A lot of Murph's "Genius" that is not mentioned here is these are not only good for the party but good for the listener too. I think the biggest thing though is he had to be this good as Emily. Rather he had to get good real quick, just listen to the first 5 levels of NADDPOD they just wamp him. She has a way to pick apart encounters in a way that is goddess-like. Of all the big names in live play she has crunch skills that are wild, but never feel like adversarial power gaming. NADDPOD is basically a husband and wife in a very funny D&D arms race.
And Caldwell and Jake are just there to compete with eachother as their number one shipper, that about sums up the whole dynamic of that group
Hearing all the praise for these two, I’m worried what kind of people you all are playing with. They are basic adult players.
Emily is definitely the queen of whomp - she literally always is a caster, and finds the perfect spell for every occasion.
Murph made me realize I can just straight up tell my players what's likely to happen in certain situations, rather that hint at things like in Critical role and lead to my players not really knowing what to do.
I think Critical Role has the benefit that they have been playing with each other for a really long time by this point, as well as most of them have only ever had one DM and has learned that everything he says could matter. So I definitely think it is important to remember when we are running a game and people that we haven't known very long are playing, that we might need to straight up tell the players what may happen. Also in the encounter, it was important to let the PCs know they need to find the NPC as soon as possible, otherwise they might end up spending a lot of time in an encounter than they should.
I haven't watched Naddpod, but I am wondering how he would have handled a flight spell or two, where a PC could just flow down to the NPC and avoid everything. Obviously he would know if his party could do that ahead of time, but it is something to keep in mind.
@@bradleyhurley6755 I'll agree, and also remark that it's almost entirely the fault of Matt's players that they don't understand what's going on because they're too busy being hilarious. They accept the consequences of their actions (with a whimper) so it's fine :P
@@danielpayne1597 That's all on them that they haven't been paying attention. I think if you are going to do something like, you have to get to the NPC in X amount of time, you really need to make that clear to the PCs, otherwise they may not realize it.
Yeah my players kinda freeze when presented with a "what do you do", so I ask them if they want a handful of options and, when the options and possible concequences are provided to them plainly, they tend to extrapolate from there with their own thoughts and questions until they come to a decision they're happy with. Eventually they get faster but sometimes they just need an extra clue to proceed or a helping hand to minimise choice paralysis.
@@danielpayne1597 I know this is an old convo, but I wanted to mention Murph talks about jokes going on way too long & getting edited, math delay getting cut, etc. in NADDPOD's behind the scenes Patreon podcast. Editing is phenomenal for creating audio with focus & flow. And I also think it's helpful for TTRPG newcomers that unedited shows like CR let viewers see the distraction, misunderstanding, fumbling/mathing, etc. so they don't get the impression expertly-edited podcasts like NADD & WBN pull that flawless rhythm off purely at the table.
Akarot was done the moment Emily decided he had a vest 😂
That was a hard yes and on murphs part but he did it and you have to admire him for it, you simply have to bend the knee
Murph’s dedication to dice, despite being so thoroughly cursed by them, is truly incredible to me
I think chasing the hammer down the mountain is a great example of a lower level combat taking advantage of the same concepts.
Oh god I still get goosebumps when the tall dwarf grabs the hammer
@@kierandixon7236 that campaign had me riddled with goosebumps and tears, both happy and sad. Moonshine's peaceful "no" when facing down Ulfgar's axe gets me every time I think about it.
Murph being upfront with the rules of the encounter is not just better for a fast-paced fight, it also helps retain his players' trust. There's nothing worse than wasting a turn, or several turns, on completing a goal that doesn't need to be completed. There are of course mysteries the players need to solve, and uncertain outcomes players discover through risky moves, but they know their goal. And most importantly, this DM style puts the emphasis on the journey vs the destination. We know of the destination, but how do we get there? That is the joy of watching Emily, Caldwell, and Jake solve Murph's puzzles. Murph answers the "what" so the players can focus on the "how."
Murphy is always going to be my ideal DM. I know he's relatively new to the profession but he never gets enough credit, I hold him in personal higher esteem then Brennan or Matt, simply because what he is feels attainable and awesome. His world building is often overlooked but the dude is an amazing writer, the storytelling he works into his world and the way he adapts to the choices of the players is so good. For instance, balnor. If I'm not mistaken balnor was an actually randomly chosen card from the deck of many things and he made it into a major plot point seamlessly. His twist where "ilsed isn't ilsed" is possibly my favorite he's ever had, and the tragic story of ilsed and erdan is also one of my favorites. And he combines it all with loving humor and brilliant mechanics. He's everything I strive to be as a DM and we need to give him more love despite the fact he's constantly whomped by the gang
Another thing Murph likes to do is skill challenges while the players are on a moving object. Riding a tram, riding a boat on a river, stuff like that. It kind of has the feel of those timed prompts from games like Resident Evil 4 and Uncharted. I'm currently re-listening to Naddpod and I'm at the Feywild arc. I love the chemistry that that group has together. One of the things that always gets me is when Murph introduces a villain and the party finds something to latch on to to make fun of them, and Murph can't help but lean into it until they're almost a parody of the badass he was trying to introduce.
my favourite bit from the current campaign is the players being mad that one of the bad guys is too cool to make fun of
Murph takes any character that he plays and severely amplify their flaws, but in an absolutely hilarious way. Probably the best example is Jens Lyndelle, and another good one is Gerard the Frog Prince.
@@MaxBerson I love that Jens never learns a valuable lesson, and the other PC grow more shitty as the campaign progresses just from the desire for his approval.
"Strike true", "for the light" and the gnomish noise "tee-hee tee-hee" live rent free on my mind
@@claire3614 Oh man every time he says it, it somehow gets more raspy and nasally. My personal favorite badass turned joke from that campaign is -Pendagost The Betrayer- Pendergreens.
Murph doesn't get enough love online. He's so good with story building and encounters.
I think you can really tell how much of a video-gamer Murph is in his encounter designs. The interesting use of terrain, the multi-stage fights, the many puzzle-like elements, all feels very videogame inspired to me.
Technical DM's like Murph need more love! what they lack in some of the theatric storytelling they do an amazing job of pushing the players making memorable encounters with all the work they put in.
and i think he's a relatively new DM who's still learning the ropes even and is constantly growing with each campaign set up, it's so great to watch/listen to him grow as a DM
I'd argue that his storytelling is also excellent
@@AnyssaBall and I wouldn't even try to argue against that! After checking out some of his sessions for myself I found the story quite enjoyable 🙂
I think his ability for drama is amazing. I mean the confrontation between Bev and his father, Balnors backstory etc. I feel like his ability for DMing drama is easy to overlook due to the heavy focus on humour (which is why the pod is so accessible). Furthermore I feel like Murph is so great at really just building situations where the players shine, which is really what you want as a DM, but it does make Murph seem like the person taking the least space in the pod.
You say lacking in theatrics, but I can't think of anything I've seen in Critical Role that's done me better than NADDPOD with scenes like the Ring of Violence, Hardwon grasping the King's Hammer amongst a collapsing mountain, The attack on Galederon, the finale of the arc with the fire giants in C3. Hell, he even made Stunkbug vs Gunkbog super memorable.
Murph is great in dealing with the silliness of his players. He goes with almost all of their shenanigans adding to the jokes of the party by making statements, doing accents and adding circumstances. But when his players are pushing it to far he will let them know and make his players feel the consequences of their actions if they don't back down. While that doesn't address the point you were making in the video, it is what I love him for as a DM the most. The hilarious RP in NADDPOD is why it is my favourite podcast.
He learned the hard way to always be prepared for shenanigans because he's married to the absolute QUEEN of shenanigans.
The way he seamlessly dealt with Emily splitting the party in Campaign 2 by making making Em, Caldwell, and Jake roll up the Endo-Friendos was genius.
@@lieutenantkettch That was one of my favorite arcs because of that.
Also the fact that he painstakingly crafted The Crick and the Crick Elves entirely based on fucking WILD stories Em told as Moonshine, and making it so charming that it became the most beloved location in Bahumia. Not to mention how he had the region change for C3 based on Em's actions in C1. *chef's kiss*
The thing I've noticed about Murph's encounters like this are that telling the players how things work doesn't mean he has given them the answers. This helps move things along (something I'm learning to do more). The other thing it does is place the weight of decision on the party, because if the party makes a bad call it their fault, and not the DM screwing them.
I adore Murph's style of DMing because Murph excels are setting his players up for success but the encounters still become nail biters because he doesn't hold back. The balance is so perfected, the pacing is top tier, and most importantly Murph is a great communicator. The emotional moments of the podcast are also incredible and they are in every moment of RP and combat, his thoughtfulness really shines in every aspect of the show. You can tell that Emily, Jake, and Caldwell are genuinely having a blast with Murph as their DM, they take risks and make really fun choices because they know Murph will be right there to meet them at their level. You can see Brennan's influence on Murph for sure, especially early on, but especially now with the third big arc of NADDPOD Murph has just blasted off into his own genius. I think he does my favorite BBEG fights of all the DMs I watch, I think about the big fight at the end of the Dragon Elf Chronicles and it still blows my mind what he was able to pull off with theatre of the mind. I would love to see Murph run a sidequest in Dimension 20 with a table full of DMs, it would change my life.
Also on a personal note, as someone who struggles with anxiety and choice paralysis Murph's style of "here are the important points, there are consequences, no spoilers but context" DMing is so helpful to me. I've actually talked about it and shared clips with my spouse who DMs our home game and it's helped out table out a ton. We make bigger choices quicker when we know, for better or for worse, what is on the line.
Great video! Not sure why the algo decided to give me your stuff so long after you posted but I'm enjoying the back catalogue :)
He is too good at building encounters. The wizard tournament with Mavrus might be my favourite.
Oooo thats a good one!
The twist with the Starspawn killed me (with laughter)
@@LizzieNeedsALife STARSPAWN!
Starspawn!!
Starspawn!
I sometimes just sit down and map out Murph's encounters because he has been consistently knocking them out of the park for so long, it's never not worth my time to analyze them.
There was an encounter in Eldermourne with Lou Wilson as a guest that was entirely improvised breaking into a war camp that I still think about.
You described what he does as metagaming, but I'd argue that he's more making the game explicit. If the rules are going to be different than expected, it makes sense to explain them. Like fully half of his encounters now are more mini-game than combat, there's always some conceit to keep them entertaining and dynamic.
Jabari the Safari! I still froth on the way that the three of them literally just freaking RAN across the country to to their balls to the wall mission.
All of the Hell arc in NADDPOD was really well designed to be this long endurance encounter through multiple levels.
Personally I believe the battle for the Kings(Queens)Hammer as it falls down the mountain. It's the party fighting a (young?) Silver Dragon, and a Zombified Buff Dwarf. And having the hammer falling like 2d100 down the mountain every turn as if falls behind them. Fast, high stakes, and all PCS have their strengths and weakness in the battle. Such as Moonshine jumping immediately to the hammer and using gaseous form to land safely and be a goal keeper since she can't wield the hammer.
Just listened to 84 episodes of naddpod because of this video. You deserve a shout-out at the end of naddpod.
I think it's also worth noting that so many of the encounters are character driven. Even from the beginning, Murph was having them rescue the Green Teens, and so many of the most iconic battle moments are from Murph setting up personal stakes: Galad saying that Hardwon's mother would be lost if Hardwon killed him, then Hardwon killing him anyway, which led them in turn to Shadowfell. Bev's father gets arrested and then later on that takes them to the Feywild and the Nine Hells. Moonshine squaring off against Maribel and them getting Maribel's backstory which led them to Acherot. All of that tying together with the theme of "the campaign after the campaign" where the characters are having to take care of the mistakes of the past and their own mistakes as well. It's truly a masterpiece of a campaign. Murph, Brennan and Aabria are all geniuses.
I've never thought about pre-rolling damage, that's genius and I'm gonna steal that
The aftermath of the 9th level encounter is some of my favorite content from NADDPOD action wise. Besides the awesome visual of these rouge gods being teleported into the the middle of the material plain, the absolute fight for their lives that these things create is unmatched in scale and visuals to give us for the theatre of the mind
Murph's Akarot voice is also really over-powered
"Am I wearing a vest??"
One of their best bits hahaha
The Ezra the Unkind and King Lesterborn battles were amazing as well. Both managed to progress the overall plot of the campaign and deepen our understanding of the characters mid fight. The city pigeon’s got talent!
Shout out to Murph! He is great at designing travel and environmental mechanics, really inspiring, even though i run my own homemade system
I think Murph's meta gaming is a lot for the listener. Also, it sets up the players for how the encounter will run so there's no surprises / confusion. With the players that Murph has they run the encounter without abusing the meta knowledge so there's really no negative effect of the meta.
Another amazing DM I admire for this is Mark Hulmes on High Rollers. He does a lot of absolutely brilliant encounter design, like summer blockbuster movie style encounters. He will seriously set up a lot of encounters in the way games and movies set up certain set pieces. Yet is still able to reign it in for D&D and be approachable for his players. He might have a boss fight have their own unique mechanics that the players need to puzzle out during the fight, but he is always up front about the rules and mechanics while still leaving a sense of mystery up to the players on how to overcome it. And if the encounter takes place over two episodes, he is willing to adjust rules and explain the adjustments to the players. He is willing to say "Hey, this didn't work last time. Here is how I'm going to change it so you guys have more fun." He really gets his players and how they will enjoy the session, and tries to make things fresh and unique when he can while still making sure they are having fun.
High Rollers is worth getting into. I'd say a there is a chunk of the earlier episodes that are pretty standard fair, but ultimately has been one of my favorite Actual Plays in the long run.
I know I'm super late to the party with this video, but I love to see how dedicated everyone is who listens to NADDPOD. The love for the series as a whole is so strong, I started it a few years ago and finished it last month and am now restarting cause I just can't stop hearing them play 😭💜
Brian Murphy is a DnD god. Also Emily Axford is the best DnD player on the planet. I'd like to see anyone claim otherwise!! You should do some content on her too!
She's on my list!
Yeah she does a really good job playing her character, and her characters are always just really fun. I dint think their has been a single campaign she was in where i didnt absolutely adore the character she made within like just the first few episodes, and she has given me tons of inspiration when making npc's in my campaign.
It feels like they're almost house ruling Familiars, it almost seems like it's just a way to say you have advantage on literally everything if the player doesn't have to use their action to have the familiar do something
Make emily president of the USA and her strategic genius will all but ensure world peace.
Honestly the whole Dimension 20 team is full of amazing players that exemplify different qualities of good players. Emily is the best at following her impulses no matter how absurd, Sioban is awesome at sticking to her character's traits and limitations, Lou Wilson is incredibly honest in every performance even though he builds characters that hide their insecurities.
They all do all of these things to varying extents but they are all very good role models.
(I still feel Travis Willingham is the best example for table etiquette I've ever seen though)
NaDDpod season 1 got me interested in playing D&D 6 years ago! So happy you covered such a rock star GM!
It is _much_ better to tell players *exactly* the rules of the encounter. Before Murphy, the same concept had been explained and exploited by Hankerin from the channel/group that is today called Runehammer. A _great_ content creator with a deep understanding of RPG even if sometimes underestimated because of his somehow goofy way - his channel was called before Drunkens & Dragons, not to be confused with Drunks & Dragons. If the players do not have a clear understanding of what happens if they act (or if they refuse to act) their choices are inconsequential to them, and you are therefore robbing them of their agency.
People thinks it is metagaming if they misunderstood what rules represent to begin with. If you tell me that there is a 150cm wide chasm in front of me, I would have a vague understanding of my probability of jumping it. However if I _see_ the same chasm I have immediately a completely different and more visceral understanding of the same probability. I feel if it is dangerous or not with a certainty that no hypothetical described scenario can have. The rules give a shared framework of understanding between players and master: I know that I have _exactly_ 65% probability of achieving a jump, because the character knows it, feels it.
I might get from the DM description of a situation a vague understanding of hurry, but if the DM asks me: "you are in a hurry, are you sure you want to waste some time with a short rest?" he is giving me only the illusion of agency. The DM actually decided for me to avoid the short rest. If instead he were to tell me: "You estimate that the event is in 6 hours, but you cannot be sure. Every hours that passes, I will roll one d6: if I get 6, the event is happening." now you can make an informed decision. You actually have agency: a short rest means a 1 in 6 probability of the event happening. Is it worth it to you?
Telling the exact rules of an event to the players complement the DM description with an objective - although often times probabilistic - explanation of the situation, allowing informed decisions instead of attempts to see through what the DM wants you to do.
@@ork44 I like icrpg, but more than that I _really_ like Hankerin encounter design. His series of videos on traps and on the 5 rooms dungeons design have been among the most impactful on my DM career.
Even if I DM since 30 years and I had already read the very insightful 5 rooms-dungeons theoretical introduction from Johnn Four at Roleplaying Tips, Hankerin videos really flashed the idea out with super smart encounters, the role of the _theme,_ the absence of trade offs between having a compelling story and giving agency to your players.
I'm super interested in what you're speaking about here, could you elaborate on the temporal agency component? I'm a newer DM so some of my descriptions are lacking just because of nerves/inexperience, so I've independently noticed that a sort of rules framework has been improving how my PCs feel, but you put it into words exactly what I was feeling.
For the temporal agency part with the short rest I often do things like that: I'm factoring in how long they took, if they forego a short rest etc to determine how far along the event would have progressed. In my mind I feel like I'm offering a ton of agency that way (and overpreparing as a newer DM!), not choosing for them. Is it because those mental calculations I'm doing are behind the DM screen doesn't convey the same sense of urgency?
@@des757 You are spot on, let me try to flesh it out for you.
Imagine that a dragon is going to attack the players city in 1 hour, unless the kobold ritual controlling the dragon is interrupted. Once the dragon starts his rampage, it will take one hour to fully destroy the city. The characters are now in front of the kobolds cave, and they have to decide how to act: they are pretty bashed up, low hp, few slots: they could really use a short rest before the final battle. What will they do?
Now, let's imagine the two cases. First, let's imagine that the players don´t know the exact timing and you are keeping track of timing behind the screen. Do they have enough time to take a short rest? How can they know? In real life they will have a hunch if they are late or not, but in the game they will try to understand from your vague answers if they have time or not. It will be an exercise in master reading, and unless you make them understand _clearly_ that time is really sharp, they are not taking a real choice: if I ask you to choose between envelope A and B, and I don't tell you anything about the two envelopes, it is _not_ a choice. Only if you know _some info_ about the envelops you are actually choosing.
Indeed, now let's go to the second case: the players have a clear idea of when the dragon is going to attack. At the beginning of the adventurers day you set a d12 on 1 on the table, and you will increase the dice by 1 every hour. In the morning you tell the players that the dragon will attack when the dice is at 12. Now every step during the day, every choice of searching for loot in a random cave, every short rest up to now, it has been an informed choice, an opportunity for roleplay while they consume a finite resource they know about. And now, at the end of the day, because of their previous choices they are too late or just in time, and they are now facing a very precise choice: should they rest, and attack when the dragon already started the attack - likely causing a lot of civilian deaths - or attack now, without a short rest, risking their life and the whole city? This is a very interesting choice, both on the strategic layer of the game and on the roleplaying layer. Can even spark heated discussion among players! You will never have a heated discussion if they have to choose envelope A and B without any info.
@@bobon123 Cheers! Thanks for elaborating, given me a lot to think about.
Thanks for the great vid! What I love most about Murph’s encounters is how he takes non combat situations and puts them in an initiative setting and treats them like combat (eg trying to climb a mountain with some hostile forces trying to stop them). Also he uses lair actions to such creative effect!
There is a certain unspoken magic with 3 player/1 dm d&d that I also think is hard to estimate the effects of
the ring fight is one of my favorites of all time, I aspire to make encounters dynamic as Murph's
Its such a good encounter!
Murph’s encounters are incredible! I started listening to NADDPOD because of Dimensions 20 and I absolutely love how Murph designs and executes encounters. In episode 27 of the 3rd campaign (King of Dragons) each player is partnered with a dragon as they square off against a 100 foot long mega dragon. Each player controls his/her character and one of the dragons. It is such an incredible encounter with so many surprised. Murph is awesome and really knows how to make it fun for the players and the listeners.
Daddy Murph really do make fun _and_ cinematic encounters while keeping it all hilarious
i DID NOT think the campaign after the campaign would have this high quality and this much fun
naddpod was the first dnd show i ever got into and going back always gives me so many fun ideas how to up combat
The cult fetish of HOMGMETAGAMINGISEEEEEEEVVVVVUUUUULLLLLL!!!!! is one of the worst blights in the community.
NADDPOD got me through the pandemic! So happy to have discovered these wonderful screwballs!
I recently re-read the Hobbit and LOTRs and noticed how the reader is let in on some meta details that help the pace. I think a measured amount of that works in TTRPG's as well.
Side note, I check your subscriber count every new video to see if you've blown up yet. I love your content and presentation/delivery.
Thats an interesting point! Hard to disagree with Tolkien haha
And thank you!
Fantastic, thank you for the recommended content
Murph and Brennan and now Aabria are my main DM inspirations!
Murph is an amazing dm
This is a great breakdown
Thank you!
Yoyoyoyoyoyooyo algorithms for ya madoot
Keep up the good work. Your advice is unmatched.
Totally!!!!!!!!!!!! The battle for the hammer in C1 as they fall off a mountain is FUCKING EPIC!!!
This was an informative video; I may need to watch NAD&D Podcast now!
I would honestly love to see your take on some of the eldermourne encounters
I cant watch this video because im not on ep84 but i totally agree. His theatre of the mind keeps me coming back he has a great skill for describing stuff in a cinematic way. I dont know why but the ruins in the begining of the first campaign i could picture them so vividly.
What I hadn't seen before was having encounter after encounter after encounter and the intense resource management that comes with that. They even put it in homebrew mechanics to get some of the benefits of a short rest without the actual short rest
BALNOR!!
Dude - just found and subscribed to your channel. You have a GREAT VOICE. If you don't do a podcast yet, you definitely should.
Being open and upfront about the mechanics to very serious encounters is a good thing! A party member only had so many rounds before he would be killed and a BBEG was teleporting god husks! Divulging that information allows players to strap in and fully invest in the stakes and how important WINNING really is
Thanks for turning me onto their podcast!
Pre rolling damage? nice
Great commentary!!
love these videos!
I really appreciate these DM highlight videos! I'm trying to build my first campaign (for my kids mostly, but quite a few cousins want to play too) and having someone breakdown exactly WHY Brennan, Murph, etc are good at what they do is really helpful as I brainstorm and make notes for my campaign. Thanks so much!
Murph is great and very underrated, love seeing this video!
I really want to emphasize what you said about "meta-gaming". As a DM, if you're too afraid to "metagame" you can end up running an encounter that feels unfair, or railroaded, or like a puzzle that the players had no way to solve. In general, I think the default should be to communicate all the rules specific to your encounter, and you should ONLY hide things if you have a very good reason to do so, and there are clear ways that the players will get the info needed to make a plan before it's "too late".
The rules are there to quantify an ongoing and chaotic situation. A situation that the players' characters are living through with soooo much more detail than we could ever hope to provide with narration. If there's something important going on, it's best to assume that player characters can intuit roughly how it works. Gatekeeping that information behind perception and logic checks just delays getting to the part that everyone is at the table to experience, namely, making tough decisions based on what is happening.
Really well broken down and informative. Great job!
Thank you!
Saw yr post on the D20 subreddit, slay queen!!!
Haha thanks!
Mmm nom nom nom. Great food for thought here! Thanks for making it so digestible.
Glad you enjoyed!
@@castlecaster Yup! Found the second example most helpful. Having a goal a little further away to get to gives the players a reason to not just surround the boss and have the fight end up a bit of a slogfest. I think the hardest part to manage in a fight is getting the players to have reason to move around (mainly at low levels) without throwing too many enemies at them.
@@ItMeansSun Low level encounters are a challenge to balance, let alone to make more dynamic. So I feel you there haha
@@castlecaster I've had *great* success using minions (inspired by both Matt Colville and 4e D&D).
Naddpod of the only actual play that never looses me during combat thanks to murph
Awesome video man, very well presented! 👏
Thank you!
A creator making videos about some of my favorite D&D players and favorite D&D podcast? Yup, I’m subscribed. And now I’m going to go relisten to the whole nine hells arc
Great topic for study. Thanks!
So the dmg recommends 4-8 encounters per adventuring day. Almost nobody I’ve played with does that. Ring of violence basically does this by combining all of the encounters into 1 mega encounter. Each ring is a separate encounter. The husk is a separate encounter that stitches the 2 rings together. The hazards of each ring are separate encounters. You get your 15 minute adventuring day and all your encounters in that time.
Don’t forget his story genius. For example, episode 40 of Eldermourne.
Yeah, naddpod is great. I really loved the fight with ackerot's hollow goddy with the sphere of the aniallation in the chest. Not only was it hilarious, it also was a pretty interesting fight despite it just being 4 PC's versus one strong monster.
Very useful! Trying to make my own encounters better.
Great analysis!
Thanks!
This was just great
ive been working through the first campaign for a while now and im episode 93, and i know im close to finishing, but I havent been able to get this invested into a story in so long that i dont want to finish it :( Everyone is so good.
Anyone who has played D&D long enough will tell you that encounters are all about stakes, narrative framing, and environmental complications. It comes down to layering, being able to add complexity but having enough confidence and experience to not over-complicate.
great video. subscribed.
You'd be an incredible interviewer!
Finally someone that recognises murphs combat genius
NADDPOD LOVE ON DND TH-cam, LETS FUCKING GO
Really wonderful breakdown! What absolutely fabulous encounter design, I have also found metagaming a bit is really useful for setting tension with players.
Thanks!
Bro Murph is underrated as a dm I love him
Shit, you just reminded me how good naddpod is,
You've got a real radio voice
How can such a normal dude be such a good DM?
I'm currently on NADDP Ep27 (got a long way to go!) and enjoying it. I have aphantasia though, which is an inability to picture things in my mind, which isn't that great for Theatre of the Mind. I'll admit that when the combats start, I very quickly lose track of what's going on. I may try going back and listening to the fights again, to see if I try really hard I can get a better grasp of what's happening.
Im not sure if thats possible but a link to the episode would be neat. I don't know the podcast and i think i need to see those encounters in action to really understand why they are so amazing and how they work.
Off to google !
ive learned through studying murph and brennan that the best combats have a secret third thing happening in the background, fighting is never the primary goal of the pcs
I’m interacting with the video! It’s like a subscription without making my feed wonky!
Welcome.. to BAHUMIA EVERYBODY
*baaHUMIAAAA*
Best dm for sure
He's a Normal-Ass Dude.
Put the link to your other video in the description for us please.
WE NEED MORE DIMENSION 20 ANALYSIS
all canadians are inherently gorgeous
I wanna see some dungeons and daddies content 👀👀👀
I recently started listening to it! Its absolutely insane lol
@@castlecaster Ohmigod yeah, shenanigans galore
I just wanted to come back to ask if you would analyze Caldwell and Emily’s DMing style. Trinyvale had some of my favorite moments across the podcast but I can see it’s miscomings on the DM side
Probably won't do DM videos on Emily and Caldwell. Or at least not any time soon. Mostly because I could never get into trinyvale and Emily has only DMd one short campaign. I may do videos on their player styles at some point though
@@castlecaster works for me dude! I get you didn’t like Caldwell’s style. I didn’t either but I do think you should check out the one shots and live shows. He’s much better in those in my opinion
Nice video.
I think the husk was Yuunogu, i could be wrong though.
encounter god